happened in 1931 when one of the larger meatpacking companies was able to ship square frozen beef patties to anywhere that White Castle wanted. As they rolled out the frozen patty program over the next few years, it also helped to standardize the hamburgers at every restaurant.
Advertising Works
June 3, 1932, was a historic day for the company. They ran a “buy two, get three for free” coupon ad in the local newspaper for the following day at three in the afternoon. Some experts in the marketing field told them that very few, if any, customers would be interested in using a coupon for a free hamburger. By two o’clock the next day, most of their locations had lines of eager hamburger consumers ready to cash in their coupons. It was such a challenge to keep up with the demand that the next time the ad ran, it was good for five to seven days instead of just one.
Another ingenious idea was a program White Castle created to educate mothers and homemakers about the sanitary conditions of their restaurants and the quality of their food. There was a “Julia Joyce” in every city who would act as the company hostess and guide the ladies around their local White Castles. Upon the completion of the tour, the women were presented with one coupon for five carryout hamburgers for ten cents, and another coupon valid the following Saturday for hamburgers for children.
Billy Goes It Alone
In 1933, Walter Anderson sold out all his interests in White Castle to Billy Ingram for $340,000. The following year, Billy decided to move all company operations from Wichita to a more centralized location at 555 Goodale Street in Columbus, Ohio. The White Castle general offices, along with the Paperlynen Company and the new Porcelain Steel Buildings Company divisions, would have homes there.
By April 1933, White Castles were in 125 locations in sixteen different cities. The mid-1930s found White Castle adding carhop service to their restaurants to compete with the growing drive-in culture. Curb service ended in 1972, as drive-thrus were now the next big thing.
During World War II, Porcelain Steel Buildings Company was not allowed to produce anything that did not support the war, so they accepted contracts to build amphibious vehicles. Meanwhile, the White Castle locations had to deal with meat rationing by selling whatever they had available to them.
“If we had some ham, we could have some ham and eggs—if we had some eggs,” said Billy Ingram in 1943. “If we had enough help, we could do a good business—if we had something to sell.”
White Castle Sliders Evolve
In 1943, there was a significant change in White Castle cooking technique as Billy Ingram visited every Castle. Dehydrated onions were laid out all over the griddle, and the burger patties were placed on top of them. The buns then covered the patties and onions. This method minimized waste from flipping, which tended to break patties, and shortened the cooking time. By the time rationing ended in 1946, the price of a hamburger was ten cents, double what it had been just seven years earlier.
Between 1949 and 1953, White Castle developed a new hamburger patty with five holes in it. The new patty sped up cooking times with a new steam grilled technique. It also steamed the buns better. The idea was so great that they took out a patent on it.
As the economy began bouncing back in the 1950s, White Castle expanded into high-traffic cities like Detroit, Cleveland, Miami, and New York.
One of the two White Castles that were located in Miami, Florida. The restaurants opened in early 1959 after Billy Ingram retired there.
Home Is Where the Burger Is
During this period, customers who longed for White Castle hamburgers could now buy frozen patties and ship them to their homes. This led to the creation of a White Castle frozen food division in 1987, selling burgers to supermarkets across the US and helping people like me fulfill my long-distance cravings.
White Castle’s Contemporaries Profiles
In chronological order.
Kewpee Hotel Hamburgs
Year Founded: 1923
City Founded: Flint, Michigan
Founder: Samuel V. Blair
Number of Locations at the Chain’s Peak: over 400
Slogans: “Mity Nice Hamburger,” “Your Granpappy ate here!” and “Hamburg pickle on top, makes your heart go flippity-flop!”
▶Kewpee was one of the first drive-in restaurants.
▶In 1958, Bill Thomas purchased the Kewpee franchise in Flint, Michigan. Due to a trademark dispute in 1967, he switched the name to Bill Thomas’ Halo Burger. As of 2019, Halo Burger has ten locations operating in Genesee County, Michigan.
Entry door along to Kewpee Hotel Hamburgs in the 1930s with large Kewpie doll looking down.
▶In 1963, the Grand Rapids, Michigan, franchisees broke away as Mr. Fables. The name Mr. Fables came from the founding cousins’ surnames, Dick Faber and John Boyles. Mr. Fables closed up shop in 2000, twelve years after the founders sold the company.
▶In his autobiography, Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy’s, said that Kewpee was an inspiration to him. He frequented the location in Kalamazoo, Michigan, when he was a child.
▶After being approved for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, the downtown Lima Kewpee location never made the list. The reason? The final application had “Owner Objection” stamped on it.
▶There are three Kewpees in Lima, Ohio; one in Lansing, Michigan; and another in Racine, Wisconsin; all still open for business.
Maid-Rite
Year Founded: 1926
City Founded: Muscatine, Iowa
Founder: Fred Angell
Number of Locations at the Chain’s Peak: between 300 and 400
Slogan: “We Do It Rite!”
▶While technically not hamburgers, Maid-Rite’s loose meat sandwiches are very close cousins. They’re made up of ground beef and spices served on a hamburger roll.
▶The original Maid-Rite sandwich came with pickles, mustard, and onion.
▶The Maid-Rite Sandwich Shop in Springfield, Illinois, predates the Maid-Rite company by two years. Since 1984, this location’s building has been a part of the National Register of Historic Places. They also claim to have the first drive-thru window in the US.
▶The Maid-Rite company has over thirty restaurants located in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, and Ohio, not counting a few former franchisees.
White Tower
Founded: November 17, 1926
City Founded: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Founders: John E. Saxe, Thomas E. Saxe
Number of Locations at the
