Smiley Boy's

Carmella Smiley (1921-1978) and his wife Betty Lee Cook (1932-2016) owned and operated Smiley Boy’s Drive In located on Oakvale Road close to the turnpike entrance. They later owned and operated the Tilt Tavern on Route 20 just north of Athens. Information about the Tilt Tavern is summarized in the Restaurant section in this chapter.

Smiley Boy's was best known for its double decker cheeseburger which originated in Welch, West Virginia, by three Smiley brothers. According to John Hart, who wrote in response to a Facebook question in 2022, the  sandwich was first prepared by the Smiley brothers at Welch's Sterling Restaurant. One of the brothers, Joe, named the sandwich and founded his own restaurant in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1951 called the Parkette Drive-In. Another brother joined the military. In 1958 brother Carmella established Smiley Boy's in Princeton on the old Oakvale Road.

Smiley Boy’s specialized in poor boy sandwiches and offered chicken, shrimp, submarines, pizza, shakes and fries. Patrons could eat in the restaurant, make an order for carry-out, or park in their lot for car-side service. None of those interviewed for this article remembered going inside. Most people would drive in, park and wait for Wanda or one of the other waitresses or carhops to take their order. After the order was placed, high school and college students often relaxed in their cars enjoying music from Princeton AM radio station WLOH or one of the Bluefield stations, most likely WKOY FM. 

After a while Wanda would appear again with the order. She was always friendly and gracious, a nice person who sometimes tolerated rude and inconsiderate remarks. After the food and drink arrived, most everyone would eat in their cars, though some socialized in the parking lot or meandered from car to car to visit friends.

Henry Friedl followed in his older brother’s footsteps by visiting Smiley Boy’s after he got a driver’s license and could try alcoholic beverages Unlike many other area drive-in restaurants, Smiley Boy’s sold beer and what some thought was exotic, Malt Liquor. The name had an attraction, but they now know that Malt Liquor is just a type of beer, presumably with a higher percentage of alcohol. But in West Virginia at that time beer averaged about 2.8% alcohol and the maximum permitted by law was 3.2%. Nevertheless, Country Club Malt Liquor had its appeal, and part of the attraction was smaller than average sized cans. A young guy could drink a whole can of malt liquor even if he didn’t like it.

Pabst Brewing Company introduced Country Club Malt Liquor in 1951, so it was well established during our years in Athens. In 1963 Pabst introduced another malt liquor, Colt 45, with a kicking horse and horseshoe trademark to signify that it had “extra kick.” Neither Henry or his friends were impressed with the claim that Colt 45 had an alcohol content of 5.6 percent. In fact, some neighboring states allowed up to 7% alcohol in their beers. According to one newspaper, the claimed difference was “…just a psychological effect, that people think they’re getting a greater amount of alcohol (from out-of-state beer). If we’d cover up the labels on our beer, they couldn’t tell the difference.” ---ancestry.com

During college years fraternity groups would gather at Smiley Boy’s. The parking lot was often packed late into the evening. Smiley Boy’s was open 7 days a week from 11:00 A.M. to 2:00 A.M.