Printed on the cups are the classic colored Biff-Burger insignia diamonds used on the interior restaurant walls and the words, "Thick Shakes", "Broiled Burgers", "15 Cent Burgers", and "Nationwide Locations".

The first design of drinking cup, pictured on the left, portrays the hefty "BIFF" man carring a drink and a burger, which is still used today, but modified a little, by Beef Burger in Greensboro, NC. (see notes).

The second design, pictured on the right, portrays the earlier "Downward Arrow" style of the Biff-Burger Drive-In road sign.

Both the first design and the second design of drinking cups are believed to be of the same age and were most likely used during the same time period of late 1950's to early 1960's.

These cups are a different design than the cups shown at the top of the page as these do not have the earlier road sign or "Biff" man printed on them.

This third design of cups however still utilize the following text printed on them: "Thick Shakes", "Broiled Burgers", "15 Cent Burgers", and "Nationwide Locations". These cups also use the classic colored diamonds, which are the Biff-Burger insignia used on the interior restaurant walls, on uniforms, and other items. It is believed based on the 15 cent price that these cups were the second generation of drinking cups that were available to franchisee owners around the time the "Port-A-Unit" became available, approximatley 1962, and were used for many years.

* Since all three designs of printed cups have the same price for a hamburger, at "15 Cent Burgers", it is difficult to ascertain the order of introduction, duration of years used, and/or which cup design was more common than the other. However, based solely on the "Downward Arrow" road sign and the 15 cent price, it is believed that the first two designs were introduced at the same time a few years after Biff-Burger was created, as the orignial price of a hamburger was 19 cents and later lowered to 15 cents due to competition.

Due to the two common types of Drive-In road signs used by the National Biff-Burger System (NBBS), it is reasonably assumed that the third design, or second generation of printed cups would be more common and have a longer duration of use, since it only portrays the three colored vertical diamonds with text (more generic) instead of the "Downward Arrow" road sign design of cup which is believed to have been released earlier.

Here are additional images of the wax covered 20 Fl. oz. paper cups, portraying the third design, manufactured by the Dixie Cup Corporation, and used by Biff-Burger Drive-Ins for their "thick shakes". 

A vintage "Franchise" postcard displaying a typical Biff-Burger Drive-In restaurant. Unknown location, however the palms indicate that it is probably somewhere in Florida. Card indicates "15 cent burgers" and "roto broiled". Back of postcard indicates how to get a biff-burger franchise. This post card was also given out along with the biff-burger franchise informational booklet (see Franchise Information). Unknown age of card. Circa 1960's. This postcard is commonly referred to as the "Franchise" type postcard due its franchise information on its back and its distribution with NBBS Investment Opportunity brochures.

Note the lighted star ball on the roof of the restaurant. These were also commonly placed on top of the Biff-Burger road sign, like the one displayed at the only existing Biff-Burger location in St. Petersburg, FL.

This postcard is such a great example showing the "classic" design and architectural detail that Biff-Burger Drive-In locations had, including the 3 colored insignia diamonds, Port-A-Unit building with walk-up counter and "W" shaped roof structure (upswept canopy roofs), the lighted star ball, outside seating area with concrete tables and umbrellas, and the "Diamond" type road sign

Another vintage "Franchise" postcard displaying a typical Biff-Burger Drive-In restaurant. Back of postcard indicates drive-in franchise information and address for the National Biff-Burger Systems, Inc. Unknown location. Unknown age of card. Circa 1960's.

Another vintage postcard displaying a Biff-Burger Drive-in. Location: 2208 S. Dale Mabry Hwy, Corner with W. Clearview Ave., Tampa, Florida. The red and white checkered water tower in the background is adjacent to the Plant High School, Tampa, FL. Card indicates "19 cent broiled burgers" and "thick shakes". Back of postcard indicates home address of Largo, Florida. Unknown age of card. Circa 1957, based on the 19 cent price.

This postcard portrays the early box style structure, with double canopies on either side of the building, compaired to the "Port-A-Unit prefabricated structure pictured in the fore mentioned "Franchise" type postcard. This postcard also has the earlier "Downward Arrow" type roadsign.

Note the price of a hamburger is "19 cents", as indicated on the road sign. This is a good indicator of age as it is known that the price of biffburgers were 19 cents when Biff-Burger was first opened in the late 1950's. With further competition with other fast food burger drive-in chains, Biff-Burger lowered its price of a biffburger to 15 cents.

Another interesting feature of this postcard is that the contact information for the home office (National Biff-Burger Systems, Inc) is Largo, Florida, where as the "Franchise" type postcard indicates Tampa, Florida.

Printed in red text on the front side of the vinyl plastic white holding sleeve, "Compliments of your Biff-Burger Drive-In". Rear side has no text. Unknown age.

Above, are images of a plastic bonnet handed out as compliments to customers and as free gifts during a "Special Grand Opening" of a new Biff-Burger Drive-In location.

Considering the majority of Biff-Burger locations had open outside dining areas, I would reasonably assume that a rain bonnet would come in handy unless one ate in their car! However, I can't imagine too many people that would sit in the rain to eat a tasty biff .....

Throughout the 1960s, many Biff-Burger Drive-In articles appared in several issues of various restaurant type magazines, such as, Drive-In Management and Drive-In Restaurant, aimed towards drive-in management, food suppliers, and potential franchise buyers.

The image above is of the October 1963 cover of Drive-In Restaurant Magazine, published by Clissold of Chicago, Il. This cover portrays, as seen many times before on various items, the "classic" design and architectural detail of the "Port-A-Unit prefabricated structure and road sign that was available to franchisees throughout much of Biff-Burger's existence.

Another interesting item acquired by the Biff-Burger Drive-In Museum, a private collection, is this vintage un-used ash tray molded of black plastic and believed to be of the same type used in the Biff-Burger restaurants. Unknown age.

Printed in gold around the top rim of the ash try, it reads, "Biff-Burger", "Have a Nice Day", and "Thank You". Printed on the bottom of the ash tray, The GEM, No. 850, Heat Resisting Plastics, Made in U.S.A., and Harry Davies Molding Co., Chicago, ILL."

Here are two images, one is inverted of the other, of a matchbook cover for Biff-Burger, portraying the "Diamond" type tri-colored road sign on the front cover and "Biffy" the Clown on the back cover. Unknown age.

The spine of the matchbook cover states, "Broiled ... NOT Fried!!". The back cover states, "Biffy-the-Clown says, Visit the home of tase-temptin' tummy pleasing... Biff-Burgers and delicious thick shakes" and "100% Pure Western Beef; Broiled exclusively the Roto-Broiled way; Dipped in Tangy Bar-B-Q Sauce; Cooked to order... Served in a wink; On Delicious Toasted Roll".

This vintage item is a great example of Biff-Burger's second mascot, "Biffy-the-Clown", which doesn't seem to have been promoted as much as the common hefty "Biff Man" mascot portrayed on the older drinking cups. Biffy-the-clown, as whimsical as he may be, has also been used in newspaper advertisments for grand opening announcements for new Biff-Burger locations. Biffy-the-Clown, created by and dressed up in costume by Mike Harris, then acting Advertising Director in 1969, generally appeared at grand openings with his circus wagon entertaining the kids.

Here are two images, one is inverted of the other, of a matchbook cover for Biff-Burger. This particular matchbook cover is of great interest, mainly because of the odd type of building shown. To date, this matchbook cover is the ONLY Biff-Burger item found that exhibits this particular type of building. The building design resembles "Googie Architecture" and is similiar to other burger chains at the time.

In addition, the matchbook portrays the earlier "Downward Arrow" type road sign. Unknown age, however it is known that it is older than the matchbook above portaying "Biffy-The-Clown".

The most interesting item acquired by the Biff-Burger Drive-In Museum, a private collection, is this 14 page vintage mint condition franchise booklet titled, "Investment Opportunity, National Biff-Burger System, Inc. Tampa, Florida" (see Franchise Information).

The booklet's front cover portrays, the "classic" typical Biff-Burger Drive-In location with the 3 colored insignia diamonds, Port-A-Unit structure with walk-up counter and "W" shaped roof (upswept canopy roofs), outside seating area with concrete tables and colorful umbrellas, and "Diamond" type road sign.

The back cover of the booklet, portrays the chain identifing tri-colored "diamonds" as well as the former headquarters address and phone number for the National Biff-Burger System (NBBS). Circa 1962.

Of particular interest within the franchise booklet, are images of the general layout plan of the prefabricated modular unit, roto-broiler, and an accompaning "franchise" type postcard (see above).

Packet of 10 "unused" gift certficates, worth 50 cents each, for merchandise at the Biff-Burger location in Hummels Wharf, Pennsylvania. Unknown Age.

It is believed that the age of the certficates are definitely post-1974, considering the font type for the words "biff-burger" in the background mimic the lower-case version used for the roadsign (as seen at the very top of the page), which was replaced due to being struck by lightning in 1974. The certificates are believed to be circa 1990s due to its monetary value for each certifcate.

The text along both sides of the certificate state, "May Not Be Redeemed For Cash".

Vintage lithographed badge, 2-inches in diameter, made of metal, probably tin or aluminum. The badge portrays "Biffy"-the-Clown and was generally given out as promotional material to the kiddies along with balloons, usually at restaurant "grand openings".

This vintage item is another great example of Biff-Burger's second mascot, "Biffy-the-Clown", which doesn't seem to have been promoted as much as the common hefty "Biff Man" mascot portrayed on older drinking cups. Biffy-the-clown, as whimsical as he may be, has been used in various promotional materials, such as newspaper advertisments for grand opening announcements of new Biff-Burger locations. Biffy-the-Clown, created by and dressed up in costume by Mike Harris, then acting Advertising Director in 1969, generally appeared at grand openings with his circus wagon entertaining the kids.

**  Full credit is given to the appropriate individuals and/or respective sources from which many of the images above have been extracted from online auctions, etc. for historical archival purposes (see "Purpose" and "Copyright Notice" under the Disclaimer).

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