Bakersfield.com

On a recent trip down Highway 99, I was quite dismayed to see that the last "Giant Orange" juice and refreshment stand is history. This Orange, north of Madera, was the last of a breed which dotted the highway in the 1950s and '60s.
At times my dad would stop at these iconic stands in our 1952 Plymouth as we drove between Bakersfield and Los Banos to visit relatives. Travelers flocked to these Giant Oranges like camels to an oasis to quench their thirst on hot summer days in the Valley. In a car without air conditioning, the Giant Orange juice stand was a welcome sight indeed!  
Now fenced off and covered with graffiti, the last of the oranges sits derelict along the 99 freeway, a symbol of good times past.
 
— Gary V. Plomp is an aviation historian living in Gilroy. He was born and raised in Bakersfield and Oildale.