"Little Tavern" by Paul McGehee. "Buy 'em by the bag" was the motto of Harry F. Duncan's chain of Little Tavern hamburger shops. Beginning with the success of the first one which opened on March 24, 1927 in Louisville, Kentucky, Little Tavern shops soon sprang up on urban street corners throughout Kentucky, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. They were designed to be a place where one could get a quick bite to eat in those early days of the new phenomenon known as "automobile tourism". At one point there were close to 50 locations up and running, serving the best little burgers around...heaven sold in white paper sacks. For many years, their tiny grilled hamburgers were only a nickel each! Little Taverns became popular meeting places in Baltimore and D.C. where friends could get together on their stainless-steel barstools to share some good times over burgers, fried eggs, hash browns, cold drinks and "good coffee" (as their signs said). They were open 24 hours a day...there are many tales of fathers-to-be being sent out at 3am to buy a bag of Little Tavern burgers to quell the cravings of their pregnant wives! Despite their being a restaurant "chain", the Little Taverns felt like "locals joints"; a no-frills throwback to simpler days. As years wore on, however, competition from larger fast-food chains eventually drove the Little Taverns out of business, the last one closing in 2008. Many of the iconic tavern buildings have long since been lost to development, where others whose buildings survived have been re-purposed into privately-run coffeeshops, donut stores and the like. The little burger joints of yesteryear are a fond memory of many. This particular Little Tavern was the one located in the Clarendon section of Arlington, Virginia. It was built in 1941. "Little Tavern" is faithfully reproduced from Paul's original color pencil drawing as an archival quality print issued in a strictly limited edition of only 500 pieces, each hand-signed by the artist. Image size 12 3/8" x 10 7/8".