Thank goodness for our friends at Flashbak for exposing fascinating photo collections like this. We encourage everyone to check out their site… you won’t be disappointed.

This is Zelda:

Photo Credit: AFP

In 1954, Krystal Company presented a breezy educational film detailing how staff at its Krystal restaurants should behave and dress. Founded in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on October 24 1932, Krystal was keen to embrace the staff, aka ‘The Krystal Family,’ and have them do things ‘the Krystal way.’ This was ‘The Counter Code.’

Zelda used to break the ‘The Counter Code,’ as we can see above. But, tutored in the Krystal way to ‘act natural,’ she soon stowed her cigarette, set her disagreeable eyebrows free, and turned her unblinking gaze on producing the great American burger; fighting the good fight against salmonella and starvation. Zelda’s not smiling in her after portrait (below) because she’s not sure about cameras and the kind of men who operate them and process amateur film in their home basement darkrooms. But she is, in fact, happy and ready to serve.

Photo Credit: AFP

All shots are delivered in a before and after fashion. We’d LOVE to see the after that followed the ‘before and after,’ say, a year later. But there’s an element of mystery with all fast food, so let this be no exception.