Fast Food Nation
Chapter 1: The American Way
Carl N. Karcher
• Fast-food pioneer
• Started his career with a hot-dog stand in
California
• Bought a restaurant in 1945
– Drive-in barbeque
Richard and Maurice McDonald
• Burger Bar Drive-In (1937)
• In the 1940s, the wanted a new way to prepare
the food
• Created the first assembly line in a kitchen
• *Condiments: ketchup, onions, mustard, and two
pickles. (They allowed no substitutions).
• Only hired men to work because they thought the
females would attract male teens, which would
drive customers away.
• Created the new design of the two golden arches
to form the “M”
“Founding Fathers”
• William Rosenberg
– Dropped out at fourteen
– Delivered telegrams for Western Union
– Drove an ice-Cream truck
– Sold sandwiches and coffee in Boston
– In 1948, opened a small doughnut shop
• Later became Dunkin’ Doughnuts
• Glen W. Bell, Jr.
– WWII Veteran
– Ate at the McDonald’s and wanted to
use the idea with Mexican Food
– Founded Taco Bell
“Founding Fathers” continued
• Keith G. Cramer
– Owned Keith’s Drive-In Restaurants
– Ate at McDonalds, then returned back to Florida
– With father-in-law, Matthew Burns, opened the
first Insta-Burger-King in 1953
• Dave Thomas
– Began working in a restaurant at 12,
dropped out of school at 15
– Was a busboy and cook
– Opened his own restaurant in Columbus, Ohio
• Wendy’s Old-Fashioned Hamburgers
“Founding Fathers” cont.
• Thomas S. Monaghan
– Spent childhood in orphanages and foster homes
– Barely graduated from high school
– Joined the Marines
– He and his brother bought a pizzeria for $75.
– His brother quit shortly after
– The business later became Dominos
“Founding Fathers” cont.
• Harland Sanders
– Left school at 12
– Worked as a farm hand, mule tender, and
railway fireman
– Worked as a lawyer and obstetrician
• Didn’t have a law degree or medical degree
– Sold insurance and tires and operated a gas station in
Corbin, Kentucky
– In the back of gas station, he sold home cooked food
– He later opened a popular restaurant and hotel
• He eventually sold them to pay off debts.
– At 65, he became a traveling salesman, offering to sell
his “secret recipe.”
“Founding Fathers” cont.
• Harland Sanders (cont.)
– Opened the first Kentucky Fried Chicken in 1952
• Near Salt Lake City, Utah
– Dressed up as a Kentucky colonel to promote the
KFC chain
– By the 1960s, KFC was the largest fast food chain
Other Venues
• Not all restaurants survived
• Those with homey names
– Sandy’s, Carrol’s, Henry’s
• Chains with “futuristic” names
– Satellite Hamburger System, Kelly’s Jet System
• Chains named after their main dish
– Burger Chefs, Burger Queens, Yumy Burgers,
Twitty Burgers
Technological Advances
• Remote control ordering systems
• Rail system food delivery to cars
• “Miracle Insta Machines” (Burger King)
– Milkshakes
– Cook burgers
Oil Embargo
• Gave a scare to the fast food industry.
• Stock in the fast food fell
• When crisis was over, industry received a
boom
• Wall Street began to invest in industry
• Corporate managers enter
the scene, rather than
small owners running restaurants.
Carl Karcher Enterprises
• 1976, the new headquarters opened
• 35 years after buying his first hotdog stand
– He now owned more than one hundred
restaurants
• Friends with many notable Americans
– Ronald Reagan, Gene Autry, former president
Richard Nixon
CKE (cont.)
• In 1980s went public, they expanded too fast
– The value of the stock fell
– 1988: Carl and family charged with insider trading
by the SEC
– Early 1990s: many investments went bankrupt
– He soon became involved in more than two dozen
lawsuits
– He owed more than $70 million to various banks
CKE
• When Carl’s brother died, the new president
tried to increase sales
• March 1, 1993:
– After failed attempt to remove board members
– Carl was removed from the board on a 5 to 2 vote
• Carl and his son were the only opposed
– After 50 years, he was no longer able to enter the
business he had created
William P. Foley II
• Financier who financed Carl’s takeover of the
company.
• The new management turned the company
around
• In 1997, CKE purchased Hardee’s for $327 million
• Carl always refused to declare bankruptcy
– He was $8 million in debt
– Last life goal was to pay off all of his debts.