Benhard’s of Colfax in the 1940s was famous for its road information bulletins

Its delicious food became famous after the Benhards began publishing the Benhard Road Information Bulletin, which they distributed through service stations.

Benhard’s restaurant in Colfax was famous in the 1940s for two things: its delicious food and its mimeographed Road Information Bulletins that were distributed throughout the western states. The bulletins provided road information about U.S. Routes 40 and 30, describing road conditions across the United States from California to Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York.

Each issue of the bulletin “gave the motorist what he wanted and needed first,” according to an article about Benhard’s that was published in the American Restaurant Magazine, December 1949.

Each issue began with a short overview of the cross-country driving conditions, and then it went “into great detail telling exactly what road conditions” were, identifying detours and possible rough spots, and calling attention to road stops that had “most of the facilities of civilization.”

For example, the bulletin for October 20, 1949, contained

“…a report on highway deaths and the causes for the fatal accidents; correct information on the exact amount of snow in the Sierra Nevadas; a detailed report on the conditions of the highway; a list of service stations operating 24 hours a day; traffic comparisons on various highways to California; a warning of a speed limit reduction on the Golden Gate bridge; news of a safer entrance into San Francisco; an ‘editorial’ on courteous driving; a few other items of motorist interest; … and then, and not till them, a message about some of the foods people drive miles to Benhard’s to enjoy.”

In 1945, Mr. and Mrs. F. H. Benhard opened their restaurant two blocks from Highway 40. They had to compete with three restaurants located next to the highway. Mr. Benhard told the American Restaurant Magazine that “the motorists felt our competitors served good food, too, and they did.

“That left us with one dream and one restaurant and about one customer.” One of their competitors had received “considerable publicity from a newspaper column” and some of the competitors been recognized by one of the eating guides. At the same time, the Benhards saw that there was

“considerable room for improvement of road information on Route 40; road information that was up to the minute; road information that would tell the motorist exactly what to look for as he wheeled through the mountains eastward or toward San Francisco. The Benhards made an experiment—did a little prospecting, and they struck gold. They began the series of Benhard Road Information Bulletins—simple, mimeographed sheets, which they distributed through dependable service stations on the Overland Route (30 and 40) in the states of Nebraska, Wyoming, and Nevada.”

Grateful drivers visited the restaurant “by the thousands.” The bulletin’s success brought so many people to Benhard’s restaurant that the couple who owned it were able to move to a new location on highway 40.

Note: So far, we haven’t been able to figure out where either of Benhard’s two locations were in Colfax. The first was several blocks away from Route 40; the second was on Route 40. If you know anything about Benhard’s history or where it was located, please leave a comment below or send us an email at museum@colfaxhistory.org

Where is U.S. Route 40?

U.S. Route 40 is a major east-west highway connecting Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey. Originally its western terminus was San Francisco, California, but the construction if I-80 replaced the California to Utah section of Route 40. Route 40 itself replaced two older highways: the eastern National Road that was created by Congress in 1806 and ran from Maryland to Illinois, and the Victory Highway that was a memorial to WWI veterans and ran from Kansas City to San Francisco. (See “U.S. Route 40,” Wikipedia.)