Back in the mid-50’s through the 70’s, Jolly Cholly’s was the place to go. If you’re from anywhere near South Eastern Massachusetts and ever had the pleasure of visiting the place you will have to agree. It was located in the town of North Attleborough, MA. on Route 1, founded by the late Helen and Charles M. Nasif in 1954. Starting out as a dairy bar, then expanding to burgers, fried clams, pizza, and by 1958, their iconic Funland amusement park as well.
On the weekends, the traffic would be backed up for miles both ways with hot rods cruising into Jolly’s with hopes of impressing someone or looking for that much anticipated street race. They had girls on roller skates serving food and plenty of Coca-Cola on tap. It was like a scene out of American Graffiti, only real.
You would see all the kids and teenagers coming to Jolly’s Funland to ride the roller coaster and ferris wheel, making it the perfect place to bring a date. At that time, there was no other place like it, and while it was quite a family-oriented place that catered to all ages, it was also a very famous place to cruise and set up for a night of street racing.
On any given night the parking lot would be full of hot rods and drag racers just itching to see who’s racing that night. The Famous Bob Tasca Sr. found Jolly Cholly’s to be the place to show off his Cobra Jets and high powered Fords at the time. It was the era of the Big Three in racing, so it made for some great advertising.
Jolly Cholly’s flourished for for many years up until its demise in 1979, as many other places of this nature did. Insurance regulations, the gas crisis, and the economy could no longer support it. Now only the framework of the original drive-in sign remains, the memories that were made there will live on forever.