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White Castle history
White Castle company history timeline
In 1923, they expanded with a location in Omaha.
Assistant Manager Jack White who worked in Kansas City contributed this poem that refers to the fact that White Castle hamburgers in 1926 cost just 5 cents.
In 1928 Ingram hired L.W. Ray to patent a movable restaurant unit.
In 1930 the company hired the head of the physiological chemistry department at a Big Ten university to spend a summer studying the food value of its burgers.
By 1930, with 116 restaurants in 12 major cities, Ingram declared White Caste “a national institution.”
In 1931 White Castle became the first fast-food restaurant to advertise in a newspaper.
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.
In 1932 White Castle incorporated its first subsidiary, the Paperlynen Company, to manufacture paper hats worn by White Castle employees.
In 1932 Ingram also established a subsidiary, Paperlynen, to make hats for the kitchen workers as well as the other paper supplies used by the restaurants.
Today our own White Castle, started in 1935, stands as a fortress to 119th Street.
So, from budding romances to late night burgers, the one constant in our community since 1935 has always been our local White Castle, an important landmark here in Whiting.
The first food stand operated by the McDonald family did not open until 1937.)
By 1943, out of 700 employees, 600 of their men had joined the service.
In 1949, a White Castle employee made the discovery that broken hamburger patties cooked faster.
Accordingly, in 1949, the Ingram family established the Ingram-White Castle Foundation.
In 1950, as if anticipating the emergence of frozen food products, White Castle began freezing hamburgers for sale to customers to eat whenever they wished.
In 1951, White Castle trimmed the size of its patty in order to get more patties from each pound of ground beef.
Kitty Santay started at White Castle in 1951, when the restaurant had only five stools at the counter.
In 1955 alone, Paperlynen produced over 42 million paper hats for many different companies.
In 1957 the company hired Simpson Marketing of Chicago to handle advertising, and the number of hamburgers sold reached 846 million.
When Billy Ingram retried to Florida in 1958, White Castle briefly opened a few locations in Miami.
French fries, the side dish most often associated with hamburgers, was not a permanent menu item at White Castle until 1959.
By 1961 White Castle reached the one-billion-hamburgers-sold plateau.
By 1964, Paperlynen was selling more than 54 million caps worldwide a year.
1965: Chain begins using all-vegetable oil for fried foods.
1966: The founding Ingram dies; his son E.W. Ingram, Jr., takes over as president.
In 1968 White Castle hit the two-billion-burger mark.
1979: The first drive-through unit is opened in Indianapolis.
In 1981 the company instituted its innovative 'Hamburgers to Fly' program, a service that provided a toll free number through which people could order frozen White Castle burgers and have them delivered anywhere in the United States within 24 hours.
In 1982 White Castle established its own frozen food distribution company.
Gross sales exceeded $268.5 million in 1986, with per unit sales averaging $1.3 million, near the best in the industry.
1986: First overseas foray, with the granting of franchise rights to a Japanese firm.
In 1987 White Castle ended its 30-year relationship with Simpson Marketing of Chicago and hired Gunder & Associates, a Columbus agency, to handle its $5 million advertising account.
1987: 'Hamburgers to Fly' is replaced by the marketing of frozen burgers in supermarkets through a newly established subsidiary, White Castle Distributing, Inc.
By 1990, White Castle frozen hamburgers had captured the number three position in the frozen sandwich category, with annual sales of $27.2 million.
In 1991 White Castle celebrated its 70th anniversary with the slogan, 'After 70 years, it's like nothing else.
In 1991 they began taking reservations and providing table service on Valentine’s Day.
Did you say Love Castle? Valentine's Day 1991 marks the first time our dining rooms accept reservations and provide tableside service for every customer.
The entire hamburger industry owes White Castle a “thanks” for creating National Hamburger Month in 1992.
In 1993 the company launched a new advertising campaign featuring the theme 'White Castle, What You Crave'; it was created by the firm's new ad agency, the Detroit unit of J. Walter Thompson.
Sales that year hit $305 million; in 1993, gross sales topped $307 million.
In 1993 White Castle even began selling its hamburgers and cheeseburgers in vending machines.
In 1993 Ingram issued a mandate to all of its stores to speed up its service while maintaining the highest level of food quality.
Bacha, Sarah Mills, “Leading White Castle Continues to Be Domain of Ingram Family Lineage,” Columbus Dispatch, August 22, 1994.
In 1995 White Castle Distributing began marketing frozen hamburgers and cheeseburgers through convenience stores and vending machines.
In 1995 the Ohio History Connection and White Castle formed a partnership to preserve their company history and make it accessible.
White Castle's franchise-led expansion into the Pacific Rim had proved less than successful, but the company launched another attempt at overseas growth in 1996 with its first unit in Mexico City.
Also in 1996 White Castle entered into a cobranding arrangement with Churchs Chicken, a unit of AFC Enterprises, Inc. and a fast-food chain similar to White Castle in its simple menu, value pricing, and demographics.
In 1996 the company opened a computerized meat processing plant in Indiana that produces 16 million pounds of beef a year.
The menu in selected markets also was expanded through the addition of Early Start Omelet sandwiches and jalapeño cheeseburgers in 1997.
Hogan, David Gerard, Selling ‘em by the Sack: White Castle and the Creation of American Food, New York: New York University Press, 1997.
By early 1999, more than 87 units were selling Churchs Chicken products.
By 1999 gross restaurant sales had reached $438 million.
american business journals inc. "white castle testing new look." columbia business first, 10 august 2001. available at http://columbus.bizjournals.com
In 2001 White Castle started experimenting with a new design and logo for its restaurants.
In 2001 the company inducted the first group of White Castle super fans, known as Cravers, into the Cravers Hall of Fame.
bbci.co.uk. "white castle hamburgers," h2g2, 5 february 2002. available at http://www.bbc.co.uk.
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.
In 2004 the hamburger chain went Hollywood through its starring role in the road-trip film Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle.
The launch of the Whiting-Robertsdale Historical Society website is presented by Insight Garden, a Whiting business since 2004.
In 2005 White Castle completed the rollout of a chainwide integrated credit card system that enabled customers to charge their orders, with no signature required for purchases under $25.
Revenues for 2005 rose 4 percent over the previous year, exceeding $600 million for the first time.
Another milestone was reached in June 2006, when the 400th White Castle outlet opened for business.
The Ohio History Connection was honored to host the Cravers in November 2010.
Revenue was up a modest 1.8% in 2018.
How many new outlets did it open in 2019?
Richardson: Our biggest surprise of 2019 was delivery sales.
Troester, Maura; Salamie, David "White Castle Management Company ." International Directory of Company Histories, Volume 85. . Retrieved June 21, 2022 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/reference/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/white-castle-management-company
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White Castle competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wendy's | 1969 | $2.2B | 12,500 | 3,130 |
| Pizza Hut | 1958 | $7.5B | 350,000 | 15,099 |
| Chipotle Mexican Grill | 1993 | $11.3B | 64,570 | 3,870 |
| Panera Bread | 1981 | $2.8B | 140,000 | 3,561 |
| Sonic Drive-In | 1953 | $423.6M | 5,000 | 5,089 |
| Nathan's Famous | 1916 | $138.6M | 146 | 4 |
| Buffalo Wild Wings | 1982 | $2.0B | 44,000 | 1,679 |
| Famous Dave's of America | 1994 | $95.2M | 101 | 142 |
| Marco's Pizza | 1978 | $99.0M | 3,781 | 351 |
| Applebee's Canada | 1980 | $2.5B | 28,000 | 1,445 |
White Castle history FAQs
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White Castle may also be known as or be related to White Castle, White Castle Management Co, White Castle Management Co. and White Castle System, Inc.