This marvel of mid-century menu design featuring a friendly cow was created for Mooo Shops, a small American restaurant chain that served burgers and fries and specialized in the ‘foamiest floats, the zippiest sodas and the creamiest ice-cream.’

The shops, decorated with cheerful red and white striped banners and the distinctive Mooo logo, were located at Youngstown in Ohio, in Wethersfield in Connecticut and in other locations in Pittsburgh and Villanova in Pennsylvania.

The Mooos were operated by the Bickford Corporation, founded in the US in 1921 when Samuel Longley Bickford opened a chain of cafeteria-style restaurants in New York City. The company, helmed by his son Harold,  expanded throughout the New England area.

Notable clients of Bickford’s included Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, two leading figures of the Beat movement, film director and actor Woody Allen and artist Andy Warhol.

These Bickford establishments offered modest fare at reasonable prices and the company ultimately had 85 locations in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Florida, Pennsylvania and California. The company also opened a chain of highly successful Pancake House restaurants.

The delightful Mooo shops, which sold the famous Sealtest ice cream at their soda fountains, was another brand created by this enterprising company, but they did not reach the vast number of outlets achieved by Bickford’s cafeterias.

We believe they closed in the early 70s because of rising labor costs and increased competition from fast food chains.