Anderson Walter - Selling Em by the Sack: White Castle and the Creation of American Food

Selling 'em by the Sack

White Castle and the Creation of American Food

David Gerard Hogan

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS

New York and London

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS New York and London

1997 New York University All rights reserved

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-PubIication Data Hogan, David Gerard, 1959-

Selling 'em by the sack: White Castle and the creation of American food / David Gerard Hogan. p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8147-3566-5 (acid-free paper)

i. White Castle (Restaurant)-History, . Restaurateurs-United States. 3. Ingram, Billy, 1880-1966. 4. Anderson, I. Walter, 1880- . I. Title.

TX945.5.W48H64 1997
338.7'616479573-dc2i97-21076

CIP

New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper, and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability.

Manufactured in the United States of America 10 987654321

For my parents, Ruth and Raymond Hogan

All illustrations appear as a group following page 86.

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1.American Food before White Castle

2.White Castle and the Beginning of Fast Food

3.Hamburgers during Hard Times

4. White Castle Goes to War

5. White Castle Rises Again

6.White Castle in the Age of McDonald's

Epilogue: White Castle's Role in History

Notes

Bibliography

Acknowledgments

I have many people to thank for their assistance and encouragement during my research and writing of this book. First and foremost, I am grateful to Kate Kelley for teaching me about her "family business," facilitating my unrestricted access to the company records, and offering both encouragement and friendship. I also thank the helpful management and staff at White Castle, especially Kim Kelly-Bartley, MaryAnn Kelley, Wendy Tidswell, Debbie Cline, Jack Trader, Roger Post, and Therese Nolan, for opening their confidential records to me and repeatedly searching all nooks and crannies for relevant documents. Their efforts and openness made this book possible.

Many other people gave me kind assistance in my four years of research and writing. My research began in Wichita, investigating the early years of the company and industry. I am grateful to city historian Billy Ellington for guiding me through his files on White Castle and directing me to former White Castle employees still living in Wichita. One of those surviving employees was especially helpful: former manager Jimmy King and his son Wayne gave me their personal insight into the early years of White Castle in the 1920s that I could never recover from paper documents. I thank them both for their kindness and hospitality.

I also owe a debt of gratitude to many others who helped me in different locations and phases of my research, including the many unnamed archivists and librarians at the Library of Congress, several university research libraries, and the Ohio Historical Society. Because they all did their jobs with efficiency and friendliness, they made my task much easier. I am especially grateful to state archivist and fellow historian Jeff Thomas, who led the organization of White Castle's extensive papers and patiently guided me to the many documents that I needed. Without his expertise and assistance, I would still be searching through the many boxes of company records.

I am also thankful for the help and encouragement that I received from friends and colleagues during this seemingly long ordeal. Once again, I thank W. Andrew Achenbaum and Charles Forcey for their assistance. Without their guidance several years ago, there would be no book today. I also thank Peter Stearns for believing in my topic, reading many pages about hamburgers, and giving me both encouragement and crucial assistance. He made this a better book than I thought possible. I also am grateful to Timothy Bartlett at New York University Press. Throughout the long process of faxes and revisions, he showed great patience and offered innumerable ideas for improving my manuscript. I do hope that one day he will actually give in and try a White Castle hamburger.

Many of my friends and colleagues offered encouragement. First among these friends and colleagues is Tim Kelly. Four years ago we began this project together, and he has remained my closest adviser and confidant throughout. My thanks to him for reading the many different drafts of the manuscript and discussing ideas on the phone for hours at a time; thanks for always being honest about my writing and arguments; and thanks for the many years of friendship.

Above all else, I am grateful to my family for their very kind support and understanding. I thank my parents, Ruth and Ray Hogan, for their encouragement and uncharacteristic experimentation with frozen White Castles in Florida. I am also grateful to my wife Colleen for her understanding of my highs and lows during this process, for carefully reading and rereading each word, page, and chapter, and for believing in me. Thank you. I also thank my wonderful son Tim, who did more to encourage my progress than any one else. This book may never have been written had he not asked me daily, "Dad, Is your book done yet?" Yes Tim, it's done, and thanks for all the helpful reminders.

Introduction

This story is about White Castle: the company, the man who started it, and the sequence of developments that it spawned. It is social history because it analyzes how and why fast food altered American life; it is biography because it is impossible to examine White Castle without discussing the achievements and tenacity of its founder, Billy Ingram; and it is "corporate history" because it follows the company's triumphs and failures since 1921. The White Castle story cannot be told without including any of these elements. Ingram founded the company, and the significance of the company is that it drastically changed American eating patterns and, hence, American life.

The creation of White Castle in 1921 greatly affected life in America during the twentieth century. White Castle marketed the hamburger to Americans so successfully that it became their most common meal and their primary ethnic food. White Castle's success also inspired a legion of imitators and gave birth to the multi-billion-dollar fast-food industry, which continues to thrive despite America's increasing obsession with fat content. In addition to providing America with a primary food, White Castle and subsequent fast-food companies taught Americans a new and different way to eat, leading to many changes in American culture and lifestyle.

White Castle's founder Billy Ingram successfully sold to the general public the hamburger sandwich, which in 1921 was a product considered disreputable and undesirable. Because of Ingram's marketing genius, by 1930 Americans in every corner of the country accepted the hamburger as a mainstream food and eventually made it a staple of their daily diet. Ingram did not "discover" or "invent" this food, but he did introduce it to Americans at an affordable price and deliberately marketed it to specific segments of the population. He sold his hamburgers in large quantities at five cents each, telling his customers to "buy'em by the sack" and introducing and promoting both the food and the carryout format that became synonymous with fast food. Within a decade Ingram had altered the American palate and captured millions of customers. In fact, it could be said that what Henry Ford did for the car and transportation, Billy Ingram did for the hamburger sandwich and eating.

The immediate outcome of Ingram's marketing genius was that White Castle sold a lot of hamburgers. It quickly became apparent that Americans loved them and avidly followed White Castle's advice to "buy'em by the sack." The longer-term effect was that Billy Ingram's success became well known and countless imitators started restaurant chains that were virtually identical to White Castle in product, architecture, and even name. White porcelain buildings appeared on many street corners, bearing names such as White Tower, White Clock, Royal Castle, or White Palace. This almost immediate proliferation of White Castle imitators was the beginning of the massive fast-food industry, which today ranks among the largest segments of the American economy.