White Castle Hamburgers: The Story

White Castle holds the title of being the first fast-food restaurant in the world. Their original hamburger eatery opened in Wichita, Kansas, in 1921. The restaurant was the start of what has become a multi-billion dollar fast-food industry. (White Castle predated McDonald’s by many years. The first food stand operated by the McDonald family did not open until 1937.)

White Castle was also the first fast-food restaurant to sell over a billion burgers. They passed this milestone in 1961, far in advance of their competitors.

White Castle’s Beginning

Walt Anderson (1880-1963) was the cook behind the counter of the earliest White Castle restaurant. Anderson had operated food stands in Wichita since 1916 when he opened his first diner in a converted streetcar.

As he developed his preparation methods, he found an efficient way to cook the meat. He started with a mound of fresh beef and then pressed it into a flat square, after which he poked five well-placed holes in the meat. This system meant he could cook the burger thoroughly without having to flip it. He soon added another touch. He cooked the beef patty on a bed of chopped onions cooking on the grill, and he then placed the bun on top. This way the flavors permeated the bun as well.

Anderson did well enough at his first location that he added a second and third. When scouting locations, he worked with a helpful real estate agent, Edgar Waldo “Billy” Ingram (1880-1966). As the two men got to know each other, they decided to team up on what would be a fourth restaurant for Anderson.

Looking for Growth

Anderson’s operations were doing well, but he knew that people still resisted eating ground beef because of Upton Sinclaire’s book, The Jungle. The book exposed the unsanitary aspects of the meat business that Sinclair uncovered. Even though twenty years passed, people were still concerned.

To counter this, new partner Billy Ingram suggested a new style of restaurant that emphasized cleanliness. He drew inspiration from the castle-like look of the water pumping station in downtown Chicago and came up with a plan for the restaurants to look small castles. Porcelain was used for the interior surfaces to emphasize a sparkling clean all-white restaurant. The kitchen itself could b viewed by the public to reassure them that the food was prepared under highly sanitary conditions.

When the first White Castle opened, the burgers were prepared with Anderson’s signature cooking method, and they were priced at a nickel a burger. The ads encouraged people to “buy them by the sack.”

In 1923, they expanded with a location in Omaha. In 1924, they incorporated as the White Castle System of Eating Houses Corporation. By 1930, they had branched into twelve major cities in the Midwest as well as New York and New Jersey.

In 1933 Ingram bought out Anderson and moved the headquarters to Columbus, Ohio to be more centrally located to the restaurants he was building.

White Castle: Selling Hamburgers

Ingram seemed to have a “marketing gene.” He continually implemented new ways to market White Castle. In the first few years when there was still public sentiment that ground beef wasn’t healthy, Ingram hired a nutritional expert to speak to women’s groups about the health benefits of hamburger.

But Upton Sinclair’s method still lingered. Many people still spoke out against ground beef. One author wrote: “The hamburger habit is just about as safe as walking in a garden while the arsenic spray is being applied, and about as safe as getting your meat out of a garbage can standing in the hot sun.”

Ingram had an answer in the form of an idea for a “scientific experiment.” Many years before the movie, Super Size Me (2004), Ingram persuaded biochemist Jesse McClendon to conduct a scientific experiment with beef. McClendon planned that a subject would eat only White Castle hamburgers and water for thirteen weeks.

The volunteer chosen was a medical student at the University Minnesota. The fellow was very excited at the beginning of the experiment and often consumed ten burgers at a sitting. While he tired of the sameness of the diet, he kept up with it for the thirteen weeks, documenting all he ate in a diary. At the conclusion of the period, he was pronounced in good health. His consumption had averaged 20-24 burgers per day.

Ingram promoted the results of the study in ads, of course. and Some industry leaders felt this campaign resulted in a better view of hamburgers overall.

White Castle Introduced Restaurant Coupons

The company pioneered the first use of the restaurant newspaper coupons. In information provided by the School of Business at Emporia State University, the first coupon ran in a paper in St. Louis on June 3, 1932. It offered a carryout order of five hamburgers for ten cents. (Hamburgers then were a nickel so that was a great offer; probably anything that could boost sales during the Depression was a help.) The coupon was overwhelmingly successful and helped expand the White Castle audience. It also introduced a new type of marketing for the restaurant industry.

Fifty years later, the company still loved the opportunity to promote itself. When they received a carry-out burger order from soldiers in Beirut, the company flew over a generous supply of frozen White Castle sliders.

More Innovations

White Castle was the first to apply the assembly line method to the work going on in the kitchen. Walt Anderson, the original cook, knew his cooking method needed to be standarized so that sliders at any restaurant would taste the same. He also prepared a manual for food preparation and guidelines for employee cleanliness and appearance.

At the time White Castle was growing, there were no business models for chain restaurants. Ingram established centralized bakeries, meat supply plants, and warehouses. He also set up a subsidiary called Paperlyn to provide the supplies for all the paper supplies used by the restaurants. This was an innovation for the restaurant trade. Because of this, Paperlynen was able to supply restaurants worldwide. In 1955 alone, Paperlynen produced over 42 million paper hats for kitchen staff for many different companies.

Building new restaurants quickly also became of paramount importance. In 1934, Ingram established Porcelain Steel Buildings to prefabricate the sections of the buildings so the pieces could be trucked into a location and put up quickly.

White Castle Marketing

Thanks to White Castle marketing, the month of May is now considered National Hamburger Month.Though White Castle established this event in 1992, all hamburger restaurants benefit.

For White Castle’s 80^th anniversary in 2001, they began the Cravers’ Hall of Fame. Cravers are inducted annually based on stories submitted by customers that demonstrate “brand loyalty, creative presentation, originality and magnitude of the crave.” The Hall of Fame continues to attract tens of thousands of entries each year.

About twenty years ago, White Castle management was approached by Hollywood producers, The producers were hoping for their cooperation in filming Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004). Management took its time to decide whether or not to let White Castle become the late-night destination for a couple of stoners in the movie. Ultimately they decided to give it a try; the film was a huge hit and is still a favorite among many young people. White Castle took on cult status.

There are now 420 White Castle restaurants. The business continues to resist franchising though they do sell White Castle frozen products in grocery stores. The restaurants are all owned by the privately-held White Castle Management Company. This business is controlled by descendants of Billy Ingram.

To read about another successful food business, read about Tom Carvel: King of Soft-Serve.

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