BY JANET C. WETZEL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
![[The Jug]](/editions/1998/09/05/jug_180x135.jpg)
Kenny Steele, a carhop at The Jug for eight years, delivers an order to customers outside the Middletown restaurant.
(Gary Landers photos)
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MIDDLETOWN -- The American economy was in shambles, Herbert Hoover was in the waning days of his presidency and the Yankees were closing in on a World Series title.
It was 1932, the year a Middletown icon was born: The Jug hamburger stand.
The traditions created then continue today at the tiny tan and white restaurant on Central Avenue.
Customers still pull up and flash their lights or toot their horns, signaling that they're there and ready to order.
The carhops still rush out to scribble orders on a scratch pad and carry out the fries, frosted-mug root beer and sandwiches on trays that clip onto the car windows.
And despite a blanket of fast-food competition in the area, the restaurant's mainstay -- the Jug Burgers, made with the same recipe since 1932 -- are still served by the thousands each week. Even many of the customers are the same. Some are third-generation Jug fanatics, coming from a 35-mile radius and beyond for the nostalgia and the burgers.
"We usually don't lose a customer unless they move away or pass away," said owner Richard Henderson as he prepared for the lunch rush.
"And we send hamburgers all over the country. One guy in Florida sometimes has his family send him 100 at a time. They "Fed Ex' them to him overnight. That's probably the most expensive hamburger in the world, but he doesn't care."
Louise and Willard "Lefty" Lantis, 87 and 89 respectively, got hooked on Jug Burgers about 60 years ago.
"We eat there just about every day, at least once a day," Mrs. Lantis said. "We get good service and they're friendly people. It's good, fresh, cheap, and we love it."
A burger costs 80 cents, and a double cheeseburger combo special is $2.99. The most expensive menu item is a $3.99 fish boat.
The low prices and food have drawn Harold Bailey, 71, to the restaurant for 30 years.
![[The Jug]](/editions/1998/09/05/jug2_150x192.jpg)
Jug owner Richard Henderson, 67, works the grill for a lunchtime crowd.
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And Uriah Glover, 81, stops in nearly every day on his way home from the health club.
"I usually eat the hamburger or fish. I love them both," he said.
Some, such as Jean and Willard Willis of Monroe, have been customers so long words aren't needed. As they pull into the parking lot she raises one finger, signaling carhop Kenny Steele that she wants a Jug Burger.
The Willises, regulars since 1954, drive the 8 miles from Monroe several days a week.
"I just love their cheeseburgers," she said. "And I know they're going to be the same every day."
Mr. Henderson, 67, has been a part of The Jug tradition since his youth, when it was a favorite teen hang out. Soon he became one of the "Jug Boys," teen-agers who work as carhops and kitchen help. They have had a handful of female workers over the years.
He went on to other things. But in 1966, he came back and bought the place.
As Mr. Henderson hosed off the concrete picnic tables outside and the small eat-in area, he told a little of The Jug's history. The late Bert Lawler, former publisher of the Middletown Journal, opened the first Jug on Main Street in 1932 and the second one on Central Avenue in 1939.
He closed the Main Street site in the mid-1940s, but the Central Avenue location thrived and will celebrate its 60th anniversary next year, Mr. Henderson said.
"Basically we started with just hamburgers, cheeseburgers, homemade French fries and root beer in frosted mugs," Mr. Henderson said as he fired up the grill. "We've used the same recipe for hamburgers all these years," Mr. Henderson says. That's simply meat ground fresh daily, a secret, special sauce and fresh lettuce and tomatoes."And we've survived despite the fast-food competition, because of the old traditions and the fresh food."
On most days, the mid-morning smell of raw onions and frying burgers wafting through the air draws the lunch crowd. That's when the place starts hopping. Customers come in trucks, vans, luxury cars and jalopies. Some eat in their cars; others sit at the small counter. And some carry away large bags of food. Some area businesses often order 40-50 burgers at a time.
Mr. Steele, 31, a Jug Boy for eight years who has no plans to leave, hurries from vehicle to vehicle, wearing a carpenter-style apron to hold money, pencil and scratch pad.
"Some people eat the same thing every day for years," said Mr. Steele, rushing past with a laden tray.
That includes Richard Henderson Sr., 91, the owner's father. He has stopped in daily for more than 40 years to eat a hamburger and socialize.
"I worked here for a while when Dick first bought it to help him out. This is a good place to be," he said.
Manager Jerry Meehan, 57, working at the hamburger joint for 28 years, thinks so too. As he prepared and rang up orders, the former postal worker and businessman said he came to The Jug "liked it and stayed."
Mr. Henderson said many young people -- most of them boys -- have grown up "on this parking lot" as Jug Boys -- usually starting at about age 15 and staying until they go off to college. Many have been highly successful and still stay in touch. A handful of girls have worked there too over the years, including Mr. Henderson's youngest daughter, Beth Lockhart.
As Mr. Henderson shared the history, a former Jug Boy, Chris Halcomb, 19, walked in wearing a crisp, white U.S. Navy uniform and a broad grin. He leaned on the shiny stainless steel counter, sipped a cold root beer and told how he dreamed of coming home to eat at The Jug while he was stationed in Japan .
Mr. Henderson said he's happiest when he's "on the grill, making sure things are done right."
"I don't know what will happen when I'm gone. But that's down the road, and I'm not going to worry about it. For now I'm just going to go on enjoying all the things that make this place special to me -- like the people."
![[The Jug]](/editions/1998/09/05/jug_550x411.jpg)
![[The Jug]](/editions/1998/09/05/jug2_550x704.jpg)