Chain store competition is creaming Milk Bars across Australia, leaving independent store owners, desperate smokers and the odd lost droog thirsting for more.

Milked Dry

Milk bars have a curiously convoluted history dating back almost a century: the first so-named establishment opened in India back in 1930. The concept of an alcohol-free pub catering to the younger set with healthy, dairy-based fresh and frozen comestibles then took off in the UK, and by 1940 had spread to the United States.

In Australia, milk bars evolved into proto-convenience stores selling cigarettes, newspapers and sundries alongside trademark tasty treats. Our lead images of the abandoned Oak Milk Bar in Kangaroo Point, NSW were taken in 2003 by Flickr member Geoff Eastwood though by that time, the quintessentially Sixties structure had already been long-abandoned.

Nixed Business

The sign says “Mixed… Business” but to the average Aussie, that meant a milk bar with the aforementioned odds & ends sold within. One would hope the floor within this abandoned milk bar in Fitzroy (a suburb of Melbourne) was more level than the street outside but if not, any spilt milk would run off instead of forming a puddle. Call it a feature, not a bug. Flickr member Susan Fitzgerald snapped the tipsy ex-establishment in July of 2006.

Petered Out

They do things a little differently in the Antipodes… care for some “Tea of Flavor”, fer instance? You’ll find it – at least you COULD, before the shop went (down) under, sold along with Peter’s ice cream at this unnamed former milk bar in Annandale, Sydney. Aussies also take their milk barrista-ing seriously: none other than Mrs. R.V. Craig, “Reg. Milk Vendor”, served up the cow juice with fresh or frozen att-teat-tude! Flickr member Navin (no, not Navin R Johnson) posted the above pic early in 2010.

Heavy Medal

The weight of time is apparent when gazing at the now-demolished Olympia Milk Bar in Stanmore, Sydney. Flickr member Newtown grafitti recalls a movie house just next door, the closing of which likely decimated business at the Olympia. Too bad – a scoop or two of Street’s Ice Cream would have made a notoriously hot Sydney summer evening a tad less hellish.

Never On Sundae

From the serene blue-tiled facade to the homely (in a good way) rose-patterned window curtains, this nameless former milk bar in Murrayville, Victoria just oozes cooling replenishment of the dairy persuasion. One wonders, did anybody ever actually “insist” on being served a “delightfully refreshing” Holten’s aerated drink? We sure wish we could do so but alas, Flickr member Matt‘s photo above plainly and painfully points out the milk bar’s CLOSED status as of January 2010.

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Dairy Err 10 Closed Abandoned Australian Milk Bars

Sorry Homer (and countless men in blue), these closed and abandoned donut shops have served their last sprinkled, frosted and/or creme-filled delicacy. DOH!

An abandoned donut shop in Crown Heights? That ain’t kosher… and maybe that was the problem. Flickr user Anthony Fine (pop archaeologist) snapped the sad state of this boarded-up former Dunkin Donuts store on May 19th, 2014. At least a tree grows in Brooklyn; donut shops, not so much.

Panned Out

How good was the food at Peter Pan Donuts & Restaurant? Since the owners put “Donuts” before “Restaurant” on their sign, you can probably draw your own conclusions. We’re sure Spinal Tap felt the same way after getting second-billing to a Puppet Show. Nice sign, though. Flickr users Randy Fox (congoeels) and Scott (scottamus) captured the abandoned and deteriorating Cleveland, Ohio “landmark” on various occasions between 2009 and 2013.

The King Is Dead

Winchell’s Donuts couldn’t make a go of it at this Norwalk, CA location so “Donut King Croissant – Muffin” took a stab at it… and saw history repeat. Don’t people learn from the mistakes of others? Mind you, offering the “wholesale” option was a stroke of genius. Mmmm, wholesale donuts. Flickr user ozfan22 snapped the deposed Donut King on March 29th of 2009.

Unhappy

Flickr user Lindsay Blair Brown Instagram captured Happy Donuts in all its abandoned glory on May 6th, 2012. She didn’t say where the colorful shop was but maybe sharp-eyed readers can make an educated guess based on its offerings: kolaches, croissants, biscuits, and breakfast tacos. Serving up these delicacies 7 days a week, how could this place ever close?

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Introduced in 1964, Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts have become a pop culture phenomenon boasting a host of odd & unusual flavors only a Nyan Cat could love.

Strawberry Pop-Tarts taste like strawberries, S’mores Pop-Tarts taste like S’mores, and Hello Kitty Pop-Tarts taste like Japan’s sweetest character cat, of course! Credit Flickr users Valent1ne Apogee and Jason Cosper (boogah) for the photos above.

Hello Kitty Pop-Tarts featured “Meow-Berry” filling, whatever that is. Considering the pink frosting iss embedded with little Hello Kitty faces and red hair bows, the sickly sweet gooey red filling must be… noooo, let’s not go there! And ignore the chainsaw in Annellese Zemp‘s photo above as it has ZERO connection to the manufacturing of Hello Kitty Pop-Tarts. Yeah, that’s the ticket!

Scary Stuffed

Pop-Tarts may have been inspired by traditional English mince pies but does that mean every possible pie flavor works as a Pop-Tart filling? Whether it works or not, Kellogg’s is gonna give it a shot. Take Pumpkin Pie Pop-Tarts… you were expecting maybe Pumpkin Spice? No doubt those are on the way but for now (actually, autumn of 2013), harvest-flavor aficionados like Mike Mozart will have to feed their craving with Pumpkin Pie Pop-Tarts. Mike appears to be enjoying them but will he look so cheery after nomming all 16?

Patriotart

Hmm, last time someone ate a flag (we’re lookin’ at you, Zoidberg) there was hell to pay. Such considerations didn’t seem to bother Kellogg’s and the producers of American Idol back in July of 2006, however. These limited edition Wild Strawberry-flavored and patriotically-frosted Pop-Tarts were promoted during the 2006 American Idol Tour. Judging from the crowd of snack-samplers above, free Pop-Tarts are the last thing America’s idle need.

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Easy come and easy go (just like their product), hot dog stands like these abandoned frankfurter kiosks are the fly-by-night black sheep of the fast food trade.

Now gone but not forgotten thanks to the wonders of photography and the internet, the abandoned Carney’s Corny Dogs stand (images c/o Noel Kerns above and Steve Snodgrass below) stood unloved and unappreciated long after the last piping-hot, mustard-swathed frank was served.

For better or worse, images of the decrepit kiosk were for a time the most popular photos taken in southwest Shreveport, Louisiana.

It’s Crunch Time

Standing alone and neglected with its skewed striped awning flapping in the breeze, this squarish hot dog stand in Munkfors, western Sweden appears to be closed for the season… wait a minute, it’s mid-July of 2008 according to Flickr user Rolfen – that IS the season! Perhaps the unfortunate closeness of “hamburgare” and “glass” on the sign tended to put off potential customers.

Friendly Ghost Town

Established in 1929, Kasper’s Hot Dogs in Oakland’s historic Temescal neighborhood was closed to perform temporary maintenance… in 2004!

Hopefully city authorities will find some way to preserve the unique flatiron-style structure from the wrecking ball. Kudos to Flickr users Ian Ransley and japanesejack for the above images taken in 2014 and 2010, respectively.

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If ice cream trucks are rolling symbols of childhood happiness, abandoned ice cream trucks are sadder than a dropped double-scoop cone on a hot summer day.

This forlorn former ice cream truck has found an odd sort of peace, marooned amongst fellow relics of good times (not to mention Good Humor) past at the Pearsonville Junkyard in California’s High Desert. Kudos to Flickr users cins_city (top) and codywbratt (above) for capturing this one-eyed metal monster basking in the eerie twilight glow. Curiously, the decrepit van appears to have moved to a different location on the lot during the year between the two photographers’ visits.

Colorado Low

“Is there anything sadder than a junked ice cream truck?,” asks The Truth About Cars’ Murilee Martin, to which the answer is none… none more sad. This unusual minivan-style ice cream truck is destined to count down the days before it’s fed to the crusher in a Denver-area pull-your-own-parts salvage yard.

The clapped-out 1998 Ford Windstar van’s dayglo paint job and copious stickers haven’t faded much and from all indications it sold Blue Bunny brand ice cream, frozen treats and cold drinks – you’re a long way from Iowa, old friend. Sadly, it seems they’re sold out of Rice Pudding Bars… make that “gladly”.

Desert Desserts

You can get your kicks on Route 66 but don’t expect to enjoy a cool, refreshing frozen treat afterwards… at least not from these abandoned ice cream trucks beached amidst the tumblin’ tumbleweeds somewhere in the Great Southwest. Doubtless these old blue Dodge ice cream trucks were once a welcome sight for tourists, travelers, cowboys and ind, er, Native Americans. Now they’ve been relegated to the modern equivalent of a bleached buffalo skull.

Forest Dumped

From baking deserts to baked Alaska, abandoned ice cream trucks are everywhere it seems. “This is what happens to ice cream trucks in Alaska when they play the same annoying tune too much!,” notes Flickr user Van Vickle Photography after posting the above image taken in early August of 2013. One wonders, though, if an abandoned ice cream truck plays an annoying tune in an Alaskan forest, does anybody hear?

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