Fast Food Hamburgers example essay topic

Fast Food Hamburgers are a reasonably recent creation, they were only became mainstream in the early twentieth century. In 1916 the first hamburger chain was created by J. Walter Anderson. At his Wichita, Kansas store he sold hamburgers for five cents with also came with frees and colas. White castle was a thriving business, but it and other fast food chains did not become really popular until after World War II.

In 1948 on a tennis court in San Berdino, California two brothers by the manes of Richard and Maurice chalked out the design for a new kind of fast food place from their point of view. Ideas that would help to decide exactly what went into their operation might have been making their business as efficient as possible, and they did this by reducing expenses which would in turn allow them to sell their hamburgers at a much lower price than their competed ors. These ideas were suppose to have not only help with lowering prices, but the idea behind the lowering of the prices was to increase the number of costumers, which would in turn allow them to have a higher profit margin by selling in high volumes. This combined with another marketing strategy of only selling a few items were very vital keys to their success. To test out all of their ideas they opened an octagonal shaped hamburger stand, run with only employees at the window instead of waitresses with greatly decreased their operating expenses. Although all of their ideas had been great so far, the brothers decided that they had a few more tricks up their sleeves, and of course these ideas were meant to allow guests to be helped faster and more efficiently.

To do this they purchased eight multi mixers (Machines that mixed six shakes). The McDonalds concept did not include any indoor tables or chairs, but this idea was to encourage the customer to purchase food at the window and eat it in their car or to bring it home. At first they only sold items such as shakes. Hamburgers, fries, and sodas. But all of their efforts to streamline the hamburger was what made it all pay off very well. In 1951 alone the grossed $275,000.

Eventhough business was going great, the brothers decided that they needed a new plan for their restaurant. Richard decided that it would be a great ides to have arches go from the ground right through the roof of the restaurant. This was the birth of the "Golden Arches". These arches were to go ther ought the roof and slope towards the front of the rester ant. Another great idea that the McDonalds bothers had was to franchise the business. Franchising their business would allow other operators to open more of the chain across the nation, based upon the design in San Berdino.

The people operating the new franchised McDonalds were to pay the brothers a certain percentage of their sales and a fee to use their concept. In 1953 newly- designed Mcdonalds opened in Phenix, Arizona and Downey California. With success comes others wanting to copy the successful one's ideas, and this was define tel the case in this situation. A man by the name of Keith Cramer began a restaurant named Burger King in Flor dia with was based on the McDonald operation. Three years after selling the Mcdonald's brothers the multi mixers, Ray Kroc visited the operation and liked what he saw. In fact he was so impressed that he arranged with the McDonad's to sell him franchise, a nd he then opened his own McDonalds in Des Plaines, Illini os and he streamlined the operation even further.

In the years 1957 there were an estimated 37 McDonalds open, and by 1959 the total had reached over 100. In 1961 Kroc was so impressed with the success of the business that he bought out the brothers and expanded it further through out the nation. In turn Kroc's success was viewed by others, and encouraged them to use the concept of fast-food in their own ways. Dave Thomas opened his first Wendy's restaurant in Columbus, Ohio in 1962. By 1990 their were almost 11,893 Mcdonald's, 6,298 Burger king's, and 3,721 Wendy's establishments in America. Other fast food establishments were opened and also included items like chicken, tacos, pizza, and sub-marine sandwiches to their menus.

Today, over 60 million American's are served in over 160,000 restaurants daily, ans these businesses generate over 65$ billion annually. Which brings us to the question of why have fast-food chains expanded so rapidly during the last 40 years? The rise of the fast food restaurant would not have been possible without radical changes in American culture. Beginning in the 1920's, thanks in large part to developments in technology and industry, the American lifestyle began to change. Formerly distinctive regional and ethnic cultures were now meeting up with each other, blurring differences in identity. More people were moving off the farm and into the city in search of successful and exciting careers.

In addition, the widespread use of inventions like the telephone and the increasing acceptance of mass media meant that there was a larger amount of cultural interaction. The development of an affordable automobile and the simultaneous government support of new road systems physically reinforced this cultural melding, enabling car owners, especially, to go to places they had never been before. This sparked a boom in the tourist industry: travelers who once went by rail, boat, or horse, were now moving faster by car, and began to value things such as speed and convenience as part of their trips. Not only did they need affordable and reliable places to stay, but they also needed similarly reliable places to eat. While local diners and eateries offered good, wholesome home-cooked meals, they were often located far away from main thoroughfares, making them inconvenient for the interstate traveler. Travelers, however, were not the only ones eating on the run; private dining, once a formal ritual among family members and close friends, was becoming a thing of the past, and eating in public was becoming much more acceptable for everyone.

The increased pace of life, especially in urban areas, meant that people no longer ate as a group around the table, but favored sandwiches and other foods that could be eaten quickly and on the go. Food carts had been familiar urban sites since the late 1800's, eventually evolving into more permanent 'short order' joints and diners. Cafeterias like Horn and Hard art in Philadelphia featured Automat systems in the early 1900's that allowed people to extract foods such as pies, sandwiches, and entrees from vending machines for a penny or nickel. Food was becoming merely a fuel, like gasoline, for the human working machines. The need for fast, reliable, affordable, and convenient food, along with an increasing acceptance among Americans of a more homogeneous culture, led to the rise of the fast food industry, and in particular, of the hamburger's and french fries it served.

Purveyors of fast food sprang up in both urban areas and along the nation's highways. During the 1920's, most hamburger stands were located close to factories and in working-class neighborhoods. By the end of the decade, however, the hamburger had come into its own, gaining widespread popularity and being considered a staple food, as evidenced by the overwhelming success of the 'hamburger stand. ' And this was the the birth of the "Fast Food" chain.

Bibliography

Emerson Robert, 1946-1 The New Economics of Fast Food New York: Van Nostri n Reinhold, C 19902 American Council on Science and Health Fast Food and the American DeitSummit, NJ: American Council on Science and Health, C 19853 Fast Food Nation 2001.