To celebrate its 70th anniversary, Carl’s Jr., Southern California’s fast-food burger chain, threw a big party where it all started… in South Los Angeles.

The Carl’s Jr. crew turned back the clock, with a replica of the first hot dog cart that started it all, at the corner of Florence and Central. It was here, back in 1941, that Carl Karcher and his wife Margaret, investing $326, bought a cart from which they sold hot dogs, chili dogs and tamales for a dime, and soda for a nickel. Their first day of business they made $14.75. Today, the CKE Restaurants (which include the Carl’s Jr. restaurant chain) make over $1.3 billion.

The Karchers’ entrepreneurial success story was one of expansion – within a few years, they had bought three more hot dog stands in other parts of L.A. In 1945, they moved to Anaheim and opened their first full-service restaurant, adding hamburgers to the menu for the first time in 1946. Ten years later, they opened the first two Carl’s Jr. restaurants in Anaheim and Brea, so named because they were junior versions of Carl’s original drive-in restaurant. Now, it’s a global fast-food chain with more than 3,000 locations.

The first hot dog stand is no longer at the corner of Florence and Central. That’s now the home of Mi Lindo Nayarit restaurant, which graciously opened its parking lot for Carl’s Jr.’s anniversary celebration. The Star Diner, Carl’s Jr. food truck, served more than 300 free chili dogs in a span of an hour and half. The fast-food chain is not entirely gone from the area. There are several locations in South L.A., one of which is only a few blocks away from the site where 70 years after its birth, there was a chance to turn back the clock and remember a little bit of history.