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In the fifties, taking a date out for "fine dining" wasn't easy in small town America. There were plenty of hamburger joints, but no Olive Gardens or Outback Steakhouses. In Beaumont Texas however, "THE PLACE" to go was Vic & Al's.

In 1948, Vic Patrizi opened a frozen custard stand on the traffic circle at College & 11th Street. Vic's brother Al joined him and in 1958 the full-fledged restaurant introduced pizza to the area as well as other great Italian dishes like lasagna.

This scene depicts prom night and one adventurous couple has just arrived on a brand new Harley-Davidson. A unique feature of Vic & Al's was the wall covered with autographed celebrity photos, such as Vincent Price who starred that year in the classic horror flick, The Fly.

Notes from the artist:

All of the classic cars in this were rendered using my 1/18 scale die-case models. There's a '58 Pontiac Bonneville, '56 Chrysler Imperial, '58 Edsel and a '57 Studibaker Golden H...

I remember like it was yesterday... The little black box of PRANG watercolors I received at Christmas when I was seven started me on a lifelong love of drawing and painting. Rendering the images of every comic book character from Mickey Mouse to Superman and Little Lulu furthered my art education. Little Golden Books, "The Color Kittens," taught me the basics of mixing colors. Then a magical experience happened! At the Jefferson Theater in downtown Beaumont, Texas (where I was born and raised), I saw Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." Eagerly I awaited each new release through the years: Pinocchio, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, and Lady and the Tramp. At 12, I started an art notebook and bought my first oil paints. At 14,...