<P> As more Americans began driving cars, entirely new categories of businesses came into being to allow them to enjoy their products and services without having to leave their cars . This includes the drive - in restaurant, and later the drive - through window . Even into the 2010s, the Sonic Drive - In restaurant chain has provided primarily drive - in service by carhop in 3,561 restaurants within 43 U.S. states, serving approximately 3 million customers per day . Known for its use of carhops on roller skates, the company annually hosts a competition to determine the top skating carhop in its system . </P> <P> A number of other successful "drive up" businesses have their roots in the 1950s, including McDonald's (expanded c. 1955), which had no dine - in facilities, requiring customers to park and walk up to the window, taking their order "to go". Automation and the lack of dining facilities allowed McDonald's to sell burgers for 15 cents each, instead of the typical 35 cents, and people were buying them by the bagful . By 1948, they had fired their carhops, installed larger grills, reduced their menu and radically changed the industry by introducing assembly - line methods of food production, similar to the auto industry, dubbing it the "Speedee Service System". They redesigned their sign specifically to make it easier to see from the road, creating the now familiar yellow double - arch structure . Businessman Ray Kroc joined McDonald's as a franchise agent in 1955 . He subsequently purchased the chain from the McDonald brothers and oversaw its worldwide growth . </P> <P> Other chains were created to serve the increasingly mobile patron . Carl Karcher opened his first Carl's Jr. in 1956, and rapidly expanded, locating his restaurants near California's new freeway off - ramps . These restaurant models initially relied on the new and ubiquitous ownership of automobiles, and the willingness of patrons to dine in their automobiles . As of 2013, drive - through service account for 65 percent of their profits . </P> <P> The drive - in theater is a form of cinema structure consisting of a large outdoor movie screen, a projection booth, a concession stand and a large parking area for automobiles, where patrons view the movie from the comfort of their cars and listen via an electric speaker placed at each parking spot . </P>

How did the automobile transform the american landscape and society