Reader’s Question:
When I was in grade school, my older sisters always raved about the Tee Pee. By the time I was a teenager, though, it was gone. Can you give me a little history of the establishment? ~ Donna K.
HI’s Answer:
You didn’t indicate the time frame in which you grew up, or the part of town in which you lived, so I don’t know which Tee Pee your sisters might have frequented. I will therefore provide a little information on all of the Tee Pee Restaurants. There were three Tee Pee Restaurant locations over its years of operation, which spanned more than half-a-century.
The Tee Pee was the brainchild of Albert Ray McComb (1892-1964), a Terre Haute native who moved to Indianapolis when he was in his late Thirties. According to some sources, the first Tee Pee Restaurant opened in 1928 at 3820 Fall Creek Boulevard (now Parkway), but this date may not be accurate. McComb first appeared in Indianapolis on a census enumeration in 1930, and his occupation at that time was listed as cigar salesman. McComb first appeared in an Indianapolis city directory in 1931, which also listed him as a salesman. In addition, nothing whatsoever appeared in an Indianapolis city directory at the address of 3820 Fall Creek Boulevard until the 1933 publication. In 1933, the entry merely read “restr” and listed no name for it.
The 1930 Census listed Albert McComb’s occupation as Salesman of Cigars and his residence as 526 Fall Creek Boulevard (ancestry.com) CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE
A July 1932 newspaper clipping reported that the business was incorporated in July of that year, which would seem to support an opening in 1932 or later. The incorporators of Tee Pee, Inc. were McComb and his wife Dorothy and a third partner named Ethel Hughes.
(1932 Indianapolis Star)
Although it was during the depths of the Depression, McComb was confident he could attract customers. He envisioned an automobile-friendly restaurant at which diners could get the same meals delivered to them in their cars as they could if they went inside and sat at a table. A customer could also get everything on the menu as a carry-out order.
The Tee Pee building on the northwest corner of 38th Street and Fall Creek Boulevard/Parkway had a distinctive appearance (photo courtesy of Indianapolis Star)
The Tee Pee was open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, seven days a week. The restaurant prided itself on using only choice meats, as well as fresh vegetables and fresh fruit. Besides its well-known “Big Chief” and “Big Teep” hamburgers, the Tee Pee’s seafood, special salad dressing, and freshly baked pies were legendary.
As a publicity stunt, the Tee Pee purchased the prize-winning steer at the 1945 Indiana State Fair (Indianapolis News clipping )
After World War II, the drive-in restaurant craze really caught on among high school students. It became a destination, a place teenagers could go with their friends after school and on weekends. The original Tee Pee was especially popular with Shortridge, Broad Ripple, Arlington, Tudor Hall, Park, Cathedral, and St. Agnes students. It was the place to “see and be seen.”
(Tee Pee poster courtesy of RogerLandry.com)
After the success of the first Tee Pee on the north side of Indianapolis, McComb sought a location for a second Tee Pee on the south side of town. In 1954, he opened another Tee Pee at 2830 Madison Avenue. It was a mile south of Emmerich Manual High School and a couple of miles north of Southport High School.
Tee Pee ad in the 1973 Manual yearbook, Ivian ( Indianapolis Public Library Digital Archives)
Tee Pee paper placemat (courtesy of RogerLandry.com)
The third location of the Tee Pee was at 1365 East 86th Street in Nora. The Nora Tee Pee only operated from 1964 to 1968. Its relatively short run may have been related to the death of Albert McComb in June of 1964, just as it was opening. The building had housed the Nora Cafe prior to the Tee Pee and became Curt’s Restaurant after the Tee Pee left that spot.
A want ad in the Indianapolis Star sought help at the Nora Tee Pee
A display ad in the 1968 North Central High School Northerner showed a student receiving her Tee Pee order in her car (yearbook scan courtesy of Indianapolis Public Library Digital Archives)
By the 1970s, the drive-in craze with carhops providing curbside service was on its way out. Many new dining options were opening in Indianapolis, and teenagers had more spending money than earlier generations had. The days of piling a bunch of young people in a car to “buzz the Teep” or get a hamburger, onion rings, and a vanilla or cherry flavored Coke curbside were no longer in vogue.
Curbside service included a tray designed to fit in a vehicle’s window (image courtesy of Reinhart Food Service)
In 1978, the widowed Dorothy McComb sold the Madison Avenue Tee Pee to McDonald’s. Within days, the Tee Pee was demolished, and within weeks, a golden arch beckoned its first customers.
The south side Tee Pee Restaurant and Drive-in at 2830 Madison Avenue met the wrecking ball late in September of 1978 (Indianapolis News clipping, Indiana State Library) CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE
Dorothy McComb passed away shortly after selling the Madison Avenue restaurant. In 1979, here heirs then sold the remaining Tee Pee to Richard P. Turner. Turner had planned to pump new life into the landmark, but his hopes were dashed when the Indiana State Fair Board revoked his 5-year lease. On February 12, 1982, the board voted to tear down the Tee Pee and create more parking for the fairgrounds. Preservationists, including the highly respected Historic Landmarks of Indiana (now known as Indiana Landmarks) fought to save the building for six years, but it was razed nonetheless in June of 1988.
In May of 2007, the Indianapolis Business Journal reported that Richard Turner was hoping to revive the Tee Pee. He had kept all of the items he’d acquired when he bought rights to the Tee Pee trademark back in 1979. One of the locations discussed for a reinvented Tee Pee was on Madison Avenue, as part of the revitalization of the Miracle Mile. It never got off the ground.
Today, the location of the original Tee Pee (1932-1988) is inside a brick wall surrounding the Indiana State Fairgrounds.
The former site of the original Tee Pee at 3820 Fall Creek Parkway North Drive is now part of the Indiana State Fairgrounds (2015 photo by Sharon Butsch Freeland)
Today, the second location of the Tee Pee (1954-1978) is a McDonald’s Restaurant.
The former site of the second Tee Pee at 2830 Madison Avenue became a McDonald’s in 1978 and is still a McDonald’s today (2015 photo by Sharon Butsch Freeland)
Today, the third location of the Tee Pee (1964-1967) is a parking lot adjacent to the Nora Kroger.
The former site of the third Tee Pee at 1385 East 86th Street is now a parking lot for a fairly new Kroger store in Nora (2015 photo by Sharon Butsch Freeland)
The Tee Pee is mentioned in other Historic Indianapolis articles that you may wish to read. They are Indianapolis Collected: The Secret in the Old Diary, At Your Leisure: Summertime Cruisin’, Flashback Fridays: Marge Faulconer, and Indianapolis Then and Now: Northwood Drive-In, 9075 N. Meridian Street. Click on the titles to access them.
If readers have memories of any of the three Tee Pee Restaurants, please share them with other HI readers in the comments section below.
Oh, do I have memories! As an Arlington student from ’63-’65, I was often a passenger in a car driven by a friend and crammed with us girls, making the circuit of the north side Tee Pee, and flirting with boys. I guess we grabbed a snack, too, but it’s the circling the parking lot and the flirting I remember. On a Friday night, maybe after a game…
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Before high school, my parents used to go there sometimes; we ate inside and got the strawberry pie. 🙂 My family moved away from Indiana in my junior year, before I got my license, so I never got to drive the car myself. But Tee Pee left indelible memories, all good. 🙂
YOU BROUGHT MEMORIES OF ALL THE DRIVE IN’S, NORTH WOOD, MILLERS HI DECKER, THE POLE, KNOBBIES, ONE ON E. WASHINGTON ST AND THE RON-D-VU WHERE I WORKED WHILE ATTENDING BRHS.
Hi Susan- wonderful memories! I graduated from Shortridge in ‘73. For some reason only a teenage mind would come up with, my boyfriend and I would steal the S/P shakers every time we ate at the Tee Pee. When we broke up, we left every shaker on the tray that had been taken.
Cheryl, I was probably in the car behind you. My heydays at the Teepee were 1962-65. I was also a Shortridge grad – class of ’62.
Great job, Sharon. I enjoyed reading about the Tee-Pee!
I worked prep in the kitchen at the 86th St location — I cored strawberries for the pies; breaded mushrooms and butterfly shrimp; shredded cabbage for slaw; and helped make the famous and delicious Tee Pee dressings. Worked with a great crew, but it was an eye-opening experience for a kid from the cornfields of Illinois.
I remember both the 38th Street and south side Tee Pees. Cruising first with girl friends, then with my now husband. 1. We were in the parking lot the night the explosion took place at the Indiana Coliseum during Holiday on Ice. Emergency vehicles and sirens. 2. Then the night after our wedding, as we headed out of town toward Brown County, we stopped and had a great salad at the Madison Avenue Tee Pee. Beets in their salads were great. We moved in 1967, to Delaware. Back in 1968…the drive-in business was starting to decline. End of an era. The cool custom cars and music were so much fun.
Anyone know what became of heir Richard “Dick” Turner? Worked with him on Tee Pee projects many years ago…
He’s still alive – still planning to reopen the TP but very obvious it’s not going to happen . He had a stroke a few years ago then his wife died. He made some TP salad dressing for me a few years ago that I gave as gifts for Xmas
The hamburgers at the Fall Creek Tee Pee were delicious — better than any I tasted in NYC or anywhere else. Tee Pee burgers had an unusual creamy white sauce. The only competition were Fergie’s Chili burgers (adjacent to the IU Bloomington campus and later elsewhere).
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We had nothing to compare in the suburban south side area, so we had to settle for the Southern Circle — mostly visited for girl or boy cruising.
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It’s a shame their recipe wasn’t sold to a major fast food chain.
I remember visiting the Fall Creek Tee Pee many times in high school. Then I worked as an inside waitress at the southside Tee Pee in the summers of 1967 and 1968. There was a bit of a rivalry between the inside and outside servers. The hostess wore this turquoise cloth silver-encrusted western-style dress – quite impressive. The food was great. I still miss the salads, the pies (rum cream and strawberry), and other good items. On Monday nights after the dinner hour, when things slowed down, we’d be assigned to polish the (real) silver sugar bowls and other items. It was an interesting experience to work there, and I have many stories about it.
Thanks for sharing, Marilyn. Your memories offer an insider’s view of the establishment that customers wouldn’t have experienced.
Thank you HI and Sharon for another great article!
I remember the Tee Pee and also the Parkmoor drive-in restaurants on 38th Street in Indianapolis, from the 1940’s and 50’s. The Tee Pee was our favorite for those wonderful breaded pork tenderloin sandwiches, which I have passed on to my family..
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We went to the Parkmoor for burgers and chocolate malts. And cruised the parking lot for boys. And the low lighting and juke box inside made it a nice place for a date.
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Who remembers the Riviera Club and their snack bar’s frozen chocolate malts? We would eat them with a flat wooden spoon as they melted in the sun.
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How about the Shortridge Pie – a light fluffy-stiff chocolate confection with sort of a nutty crust. I’d pay good money for that recipe and have looked all over for it. The taste resembled chocolate cake batter. Students from other high schools would eat lunch at Shortridge on the days they were serving the pie – that’s where it got its name.
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Some of us were lucky to be blessed with that beautiful time to grow up. We had so many things we could safely do for fun and entertainment. Swim and dance to a band at Westlake in the summer, or date and dance at the Indiana Roof with its starlit ceiling. Spend the entire day at the Riviera Club. Ride our bikes anywhere or walk to the movies at night without fear. We believed the stories about the HOUSE OF BLUE LIGHTS. We “hung out” at the corner drug store. We didn’t drink liquor and never heard of drugs. In the winter we had the entire rink at the Coliseum. We could go almost anywhere in the city by bus or streetcar. And we were in the lower income group. In those days you didn’t have to be rich to enjoy life.
GOOD POST ON THE TEE PEE and some of the past places for fun those few years back.
Hi Sharon: I went to MacMurray for my freshman year, and you were the catalyst. At the southwest corner of the Meadows Shopping Center there was a restaurant. Every year they would buy a 4H prize winning steer from the nearby State Fair and serve it as steaks and prime rib. At the time I was oblivious to connecting the dots that the sloe-eyed steer I viewed at the Fair was being served as my meal. Do you recall the name of the restaurant?
Mark,
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Well, hello, Highlander! I don’t encounter many people who have even heard of tiny little MacMurray College, let alone someone who actually went there! I’m sorry that you only went there for your freshman year, but that’s probably a subject for another time and place.
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I think the restaurant to which you refer was the Stockholm House Smorgasbord. When I was researching the answer to this HI Mailbag question, I found several articles about it in The Indianapolis Star. The Stockholm House Smorgasbord was owned by Merrill Cohen, who also owned Merrill’s Hi-Decker across the street from the main entrance to the Indiana State Fairgrounds, as well as thecafeteria in the United States Courthouse at Ohio and Meridian Streets and several other cafeterias in downtown office buildings.
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In the articles about the Indiana State Fair 4-H winners’ steers, they listed some of the ways the prizewinning beef would be served at the Stockholm House Smorgasbord, which included Swedish Meatballs, Beef Stroganoff, Beef Burgundy, Danish Steak Pie, and full rounds of prime beef.
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Thanks for writing. I hope life has been good to you since I last saw you.
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Sharon
Hi….. do you have any history of the riverside amusement park in Indianapolis
MacMurray (fairly close in Illinois) was the only school besides IU I considered. It has a pretty campus, and horseback riding is offered. My senior roomie had gone there both years and loved it. It’s affiliated with, I believe, the United Methodist Church.
When I entered MacMurray in 1965, the campus was a four-hour drive from my family’s home in Indianapolis via US 36. By the time I graduated, Interstates 74 and 72 had been completed, so now it’s only a three-and-a-half hour trip. Although the college still owned stables and a cabin at the edge of town, a degree in equestrian science was no longer offered when I was there (1965 to 1969). As the school transitioned from 125 years as a women’s college to the coeducational institution that it became in the late 1950s, many of the old traditions were lost. The school was indeed founded by Methodist ministers (the same men who founded DePauw University and other Midwestern Methodist-related colleges). MacMurray still has an affiliation with the United Methodist Church, but the Methodists’ support is minimal. MacMurray is essentially nondenominational today.
My parents met at the Madison Avenue TeePee. They were married in 1962 and are still married! They would take us kids there in the ’70s. Wonderful memories!!
Laura,
Thank you for leaving a comment. I’m glad the article reminded you of good times with your family.
Sharon
I worked in the front kitchen 1963 – 73 on the salad block and fountain. It was crazy there during the State Fair. We all enjoyed watching the cool cars go round and round. On very busy weekend nights, we would have to put up a barricade on the south end in the front so the cars could only go around once.
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Mike Willis was day manager, John Berry night manager. At slow times cooks would fill in as manager.
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People I remember working with in the kitchen are: Meredith (Butch) Rinker, Francis (Homer) Roy, Rack Roy, Clarence Lawson, Dennis Wims, Bobby Johnson, Floyd (Killer) Robertson, John Devine, Jim Hiett. Thelma Cook was Hostess.
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There was a basement with a bake shop, butcher shop, prep rooms, walk-in coolers, even an elevator that came up in the parking lot on the south end of the building where they would bring in supplies. We were told not to ride it, but many did. They baked bread, pies, cut French fries, etc. in the basement. Ice Cream was made on the back fountain area that served the curb.
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I got to go into the Tee Pee up on the roof one time with the manager to service refrigeration equipment that was housed there. This was the 38th and Fall Creek location. I lived north of there on Evanston.
How well I remember the south side Tee Pee, the warm summer nights we would cruise Madison Ave. There never will be days like that again, carloads of guys and carloads of chicks each trying to hook up with one another. The drags races, oh what fun, had a 60 Chevy Impala 4-door sleeper 409 4-speed blew a lot of doors with that car. But not only the Tee Pee, we would cruise The Pole, Harold’s Steer In, Al Green’s, gas was like 20 cents a gallon.
I was one of those carhop I liked working inside the best. The counter the both and dinning rooms the atmosphere, of the salad dressing crutons and limeade. Miss it so much…
Hi Sharon,
Thank you for publishing this article. I can remember cruising the Tee Pee on Fall Creek Blvd, then the Big Boy on Keystone Ave, then the Steak & Shake at 54th and Keystone Ave. in the mid 60’s special memories.
Don Espiritu
In going through my ‘stuff’ – in an effort to purge – I came across a paper bag with the message “This is your litterbag Please put all your soiled paper and waste in this ag so your curb girl can pick it up with your tray Thank You! Tee Pee Restaurants If your ash tray is full empty that also”…………obviously, I had to look up Tee Pee Restaurants as I have no recollection……and obviously I was in Indianapolis – had to be late 50s….I did live in Mattoon, Illinois for 2 1/2 years and had relatives in Indianapolis…….anyone interested in this bag???
Great find among your “stuff,” Patricia. I’m sorry I didn’t see your comment sooner. Since it’s now more than three months old, I suppose by now you have disposed of the Tee Pee litter bag. If you have not gotten rid of it, I will spread the word among my friends and associates who collect Indianapolis memorabilia.
i have fond memories of both the south and Nora sites. I graduated from North Central in 71 and remember running thru thE Tee Pee many times in my Jr High and 1st year of High School. Another hang out of my classmates was the Huddle that was adjacent to the Tee Pee. The church that my family went to 3 times a week was located at RAYMOND ST. and CHURCHMAN on the south side and we teens would go to the south Tee Pee after services for a burger and flavored coke. That location was always full of teens ruining in circles around the place. It is memories like these that make you value your teen years. Once the Tee Pees were torn down they became memories that I still value at age 65. I have often wondered why those types of places were never brought back as they were a lot of fun to go to. It’s a shame that they were lost to history.
Boy do I have memories! I graduated North Central High School and had a 1970 Mustang Mach 1. It was my first new car and cruising the teepee was the thing to do. Had a lot of good memories met a lot of good people had a few good races!
One of the first places my girlfriend and I went to after she got her license was the Southside Tee Pee. It took a few rounds of driving the circuit (Tee Pee, White Castle and Steak n Shake) before we got up the nerve to pull into a parking spot back in 1969. That first time we immediately had a couple of guys at our window trying to pick us up. It worked. Even though he had a reputation of seeing a lot of girls, I was quickly under his spell. We dated for 3 years before marrying. I still miss the Tee Pee. Good times.
When I was a 10 yearold girl, my favorite uncle moved in with us. He was 19. He found a job, as a butcher, at the 38th Street TeePee. How I remember the times he would come home with stories and more times than not, a bandage on at least one finger! What a shame that a wonderful piece of Indianapolis history could not be saved!
Was it also Stockholm house in the old Eastgate mall in the 70s? There was a smogasboard there.
Thank you for bringing the taste of cherry coke and onion rings back to my memory. It was a favorite of mine and I recall that you got ‘points’ for how many times you could cruise the Tee Pee on Fall Creek. Always more special to eat in the car with the car hop, sometimes my family would even eat inside. It was special you included Tudor Hall as that was my school, though when I went it was usually after a date with a guy from Shortridge. The days and the Tee Pee may be long gone but the memories aren’t. I did notice my last time in Indy it was missing from it’s spot. I live in Albuquerque now and it used to be there was a motel on Central that had tee pees for rooms.
Drove around all the outside restaurants in my 1961 ford convertible at Indy and speedway.
What marvelous memories! I went there on a number of occasions. I loved the “shaved ice!” It was the best I ever had. The best 1st date I ever had was at the Tee Pee. It was in August 1956 and a great beginning to a wonderful marriage that began August 22, 1958. The Tee Pee was a loss to Indianapolis and to all who visited and enjoyed the delicious food and the drinks with shaved ice! Thanks for the memories!
I have enjoyed reading all these things because I have a memory of a 10-year-old going to these places in my memories are foggy as we then moved to Los Angeles my parents lived in Indianapolis and my father had a business Minton Associates real estate believe it or not I still remember A hamburger at the TP and I think it had coleslaw on it and tenderloin sandwiches do you know California never heard of tenderloin sandwiches however I just found a recipe online and I might try to make some too bad they tore down some great history thanks for all your memories helping mine Kathy Minton dickinson p.s. We left Indianapolis in 1956
My family left Indianapolis in 1956 for Los Angeles when I was 10 I have memories of the TP Drive in hamburgers with coleslaw on the top and tenderloin sandwiches so all your comments were helpful to my childish memories I also remembered going to A smorgasbord down the road from the TP and somebody mentioned that I can still see a big gigantic piece of beef with a man wearing a chefs white hat carving it so thanks again for enhancing my memories which I am very fond of Too bad they destroyed such important landmarks in Indianapolis thanks again
I remember seeing the Tee Pee Restaurant (well, apparently A Tee Pee Restaurant) every time we traveled between home in Bloomington and grandparents in and near Kokomo when I was a young child. I think we were on “old” 31? or something like that – a road we later stopped traveling on. I’m estimating it would have been between 1959 and 1963.
Jan,
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If you drove through Indianapolis on “Old 31,” the Tee Pee you drove past would have been the second location of the Tee Pee, which was the one located at 2830 Madison Avenue. The southside Tee Pee was just a few blocks north of where South East Street and Madison Avenue come together. East Street continues due south as U.S. 31 from the point at which it intersects with the angled Madison Avenue.
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Sharon
I thought at one time in the late 1980s or 1990s there was a place that advertise Tee Pee burgers and salads. It was at the south east corner of Southport Road and Madison ave in a strip mall behind the bank. It wasn’t bad but nothing like the original. believe there is a Chinese place there now and it is next paint store. I grew up eating at the Madison avenue tee pee because at that time I was 10 and had bad eyes and we visited the eye doctor in Indianapolis. My mom and I would eat there every time we went to the doctors.
I was just curious if you had heard of the one I speak of?
Who knew, back then, that the future would be so full of longings for the past? that a quality restaurant hamburger would be just a memory?
I remember the Tee-Pees. and also Steer-In’s: one on English and the other east of Emerson on 10th. Good times, good people. pre-Vietnam War.