McFast-Food Conquers America
The very first McDonalds.
On US-45, Des Plaines, IL.
Now a museum.
Handout#4: Mcfast-food Conquers America
Global Perspectives on Fast-Food History
The American hamburger is a relatively recent creation. Hamburgers were not commonly made in America until the early 20th century. The first hamburger fast-food chain was White Castle, founded in 1916 by J. Walter Anderson of Wichita, Kansas. He sold five cent hamburgers along with french fries and colas. White Castle thrived along with other fast-food operations. However, fast-food did not become a significant part of the American landscape until after World War II.
Richard and Maurice McDonald chalked out a design for a new type of hamburger restaurant on a tennis court in 1948. Their goal was to make the operation as efficient as possible. Compared with previous fast-food chains they planned to reduce their expenses, thereby permitting them to sell hamburgers at a lower price. They hoped that the lower price would increase the number of customers, the greater volume sold leading to higher profits. They also decided to concentrate on selling a few items. To test their ideas, they opened an octagonal-shaped hamburger stand in San Bernardino, California. Their operation eliminated waitresses and so greatly reduced operating expenses. They sped up the process of making hamburgers through a series of innovations permitting them to service more customers faster. They purchased eight Multimixers (machines that mixed six shakes simultaneously). The McDonald operation did not include indoor tables, and thus encouraged customers to order their food at a window and eat in their cars. At first they sold only hamburgers, cheeseburgers, french fries and beverages. These efforts to streamline and mass produce hamburgers paid off. In 1951, they grossed $275,000.
As efficient as their internal design was, the McDonald brothers concluded that they needed a new architectural design for their restaurant. Richard came up with the idea of constructing "golden arches" right through the roof which sloped upward toward the front. The McDonald brothers also decided to franchise their operation. Franchising permitted others to build McDonald's drive-ins throughout the nation, based upon the design developed in San Bernardino. Those receiving franchises paid the McDonald brothers a fee and a percentage of their sales. In 1953 newly-designed franchises opened in Phoenix, Arizona, and Downey, California.
The McDonalds' success encouraged others to imitate them. Based on his observation of their burger stand, Keith Cramer began a fast-food hamburger restaurant in Florida which eventually became the Burger King chain. In 1954 Ray Kroc, a salesman who sold Multimixers, visited the McDonald's operation. He was so impressed that he arranged with the McDonalds to sell franchises. Kroc opened his own McDonald's restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois, and streamlined the operation even further.
By the end of 1957 there were 37 McDonald's; by 1959 the total had reached over 100. By 1961 Kroc was so enamored of the drive-ins that he bought out the brothers and expanded his operation throughout America. In turn, Kroc's success encouraged the growth of other fast-food chains. Dave Thomas opened his first Wendy's restaurant in 1962 in Columbus, Ohio. By 1990 there were almost 11,803 McDonald's, 6,298 Burger King' s, and 3,721 Wendy' s fast-food establishments in the United States.
Other fast-food chains were developed to market main products such as chicken, pizza, tacos, sub-sandwiches, etc. Today, 160,000 fast-food restaurants serve more than 50 million Americans daily. These businesses generate sales in excess of $65 billion annually. Why have fast-food chains expanded so rapidly during the last 40 years?
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posted by geopractice @ 5:59 PM
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