Toddle Inn

Journal Times, Sunday, January 19, 1986. After running the Toddle Inn for 35 years, Virgil Whyte has sold it to a neighbor, S. C. Johnson & Son Inc.
Journal Times, Sunday, January 19, 1986. After running the Toddle Inn for 35 years, Virgil Whyte has sold it to a neighbor, S. C. Johnson & Son Inc.
This looks like the very beginning of the Toddle Inn: an application for a juke box license by the owners Floyd Hobbs and Virgil Whyte in the Racine Journal Times, October 5, 1951
801 14th Street from the 1952 Racine City Directory. The Toddle Inn was another good example of the thriving commercial district that 14th Street used to be.
801 14th Street from the 1952 Racine City Directory. The Toddle Inn was another good example of the thriving commercial district that 14th Street used to be.

Other entries from the 1952 Racine City Directory with Toddle Inn staff:

Standish Ella waitress Toddle Inn r1601 Thurston av
Toddle Inn (Virgil White Floyd E Hobbs) restr 801 14th
White Alice waitress Toddle Inn r827 Lake
Whyte Alice L waitress cook Toddle Inn r827 Lake
Wojtecki Hulda O (wid Jos) waitress Toddle Inn r827 Lake av

Racine Telephone Directory, 1954, showing Toddle Inn’s phone number, 3-6838
Toddle Inn Carry Out Service French Fried Shrimp French Fried Chicken Lobster Tails
Display ad for Toddle Inn in the 1954 Racine Telephone Directory
Racine Caledonia Sturtevant telephone directory August 1958 display ad for the Toddle Inn
Racine Caledonia Sturtevant telephone directory August 1958 display ad for the Toddle Inn
Toddle Inn matchbook cover (front and back) found on Ebay

Marsha Ditter: I worked there in the early 1970’s.  I loved my job there. It was a small place and kind of tight getting around waiting on people, but the customers and owners were wonderful. Food was good too, especially the shrimp.

Obituary for Ella Standish Whyte, co-owner of Toddle Inn
Obit: Ella Caroline Whyte
Sep 20, 2002
POSTVILLE IOWA – Ella Caroline (nee: Waughtal) Whyte, 92, passed away on Friday, September 13, 2002. Ella was born in Millston on April 2, 1910, the daughter of Levi Waughtal and Inga (nee: Rudd) Waughtal. Ella moved to Postville, Iowa in 1992. On June 14, 1934, she was married to Harold Standish. To this union four children were born, Faye, Karen, Judy, and Bill. On April 4, 1964, Ella was married to Virgil Whyte in Racine. She graduated from high school in Roberts. Ella had owned and operated the Toddle Inn Restaurant in Racine. Surviving are two daughters, Faye Clark and Judy and husband, DuWayne Feickert, all of Postville, Iowa; four grandchildren, Sue (Steve) Falk, Bryan Clark, Steve Roberts, and Jennifer Justice; eight great-grandchildren, Krystin and Courtney Falk, Brian Clark, Ashlie and Jeremy Justice, and Joshua, Tim, and Stephanie Roberts; a daughter-in-law, Barbara (Harold) Standish of Warner Robins, Ga.; and a sister-in-law, Alice (Richard) Skoglund of Racine. She was preceded in death by her husbands, Harold and Virgil; an infant daughter, Karen; a son, Harold William Standish; three grandchildren, Jedd and Frankie Clark and Cheryl Roberts; two brothers, Earl Lee and David Waughtal; and two sisters, Clara Roberts and Edna Swan. Funeral services were held in the Schutte Funeral Home in Postville, Iowa on Tuesday, September 17, 2002, at 2 p.m. with the Rev. James Allison officiating and in the chapel at the West Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Racine on Wednesday, September 18, 2002, at 1 p.m. with the Rev. Al  Guetzlaff from the Gethsemene Lutheran Church in Racine officiating. Burial was in the West Lawn Cemetery in Racine. SCHUTTE FUNERAL AND CREMATION SERVICE 214 East Tilden Street Postville, Iowa 563-864-7252

Virgil G. Whyte, 1915-1989 Ella C Whyte, 1910-2002
Virgil G. Whyte, 1915-1989
Ella C Whyte, 1910-2002

801 14th Street hosted restaurants for a long time:
1939 Racine City Directory: Rustic Coffee Shop (Mrs. Adeline Garrett)
1945 Racine City Directory: The Spot (A J Rowley)