An original piece of In-N-Out lore hides on a suburban side street

"It's just a little corner of a street, tucked between warehouses within earshot of the busy Interstate 10 in Baldwin Park, the hamburger company's spiritual (and soon, corporate) home. Right there, next to the train tracks and across from the lumber yard east of downtown Los Angeles, sits a piece of American burger history that few know about - even die-hard In-N-Out fans."

"That was before the 10 freeway even existed, and decades before the Snyders tore down that first stand, leaving only a non-functioning replica near the original site. Notwithstanding some archival pieces hidden behind glass or something in current owner Lynsi Snyder's personal collection, the sign is essentially all that's left of those earliest burger days, when Harry was spending his off-hours under the sign building what would become the world's first two-way speaker box, enabling the world's first technologically modern drive-thru restaurant."

The original In-N-Out sign stands on a thin strip of green along Hamburger Lane in Baldwin Park, near Interstate 10. The red-and-white polygonal sign sits atop a white pole and features narrow stripes and a tilted font that conveyed the speed promised when the first small stand opened in 1948. The yellow arrow logo was introduced later, in 1954. Only the original sign, a non-functioning replica near the site, and a few archival pieces in private hands remain from those earliest years. Harry Snyder worked beneath the sign developing the first two-way speaker box for a modern drive-thru.

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