8/8/2019 The History of Fast Food

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The History of Fast Food

Restaurants have been around in some form for most of human civilization. But they usually catered to travelers. As

far back as ancient Greece and Rome, inns and taverns generally served food to people who had a reason to be

away from home. This trend continued until relatively recently. Although taverns and coffee houses were popular 

places to gather and share beverages in the 17th century, the idea of eating out for fun didn't take off in Western

society until the late 18th century.

Image courtesy Ruud Leeuw 

Taverns like the Middleton Historic Tavern traditionally

catered to travelers. 

The History of the Drive-ThroughIt's hard to imagine fast food without drive-throughwindows. Drive-throughs existed in the 1930s, and many

drive-in restaurants had some form of drive-up window.However, the speaker systems commonly used to placedrive-through orders didn't hit the scene until the 1950s.The double drive-through, used by many busy fast-foodrestaurants, debuted in the 1980s.

 Although McDonald's was the first restaurant to use the assembly-line system, some people think of White Castle as

the first fast-food chain. White Castle was founded in 1921 in Wichita, Kansas. At the time, most people considered

the burgers sold at fairs, circuses, lunch counters and carts to be low-quality. Many people thought hamburger came

from slaughterhouse scraps and spoiled meat. 

White Castle's founders decided to change the public's perception of hamburgers. They built their restaurants so that

customers could see the food being prepared. They painted the buildings white and even chose a name that

suggested cleanliness. White Castle was most popular in the American East and Midwest, but its success helped

give hamburger meat a better reputation nationwide. So, like cars, White Castle played an important part in the

development of fast food.

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The McDonald brothers opened their redesigned restaurant in 1948, and

several fast-food chains that exist today opened soon after. Burger King and

Taco Bell got their start in the 1950s, and Wendy's opened in 1969. Some

chains, like Carl's Jr., KFC and Jack in the Box, existed before the Speedee

Service System, but modified their cooking techniques after its debut.

McDonald's, which started it all, is now the world's largest fast-food chain.

 According to the National Restaurant Association, American sales of fast food

totaled $163.5 billion in 2005 [ref ]. The industry is growing globally as well.

Total sales for McDonald's grew 5.6 percent in 2005, and the company now

has 30,000 franchised stores in more than 120 countries [ref and ref ].

However, McDonald's - and fast food in general - does not always get a

welcoming reception around the world. McDonald's restaurants have been

attacked in several countries, including the United States, China, Belgium,

Holland, India, Russia, Sweden and the U.K. Protestors have accused

McDonald's and other chains of selling unhealthy food, marketing

aggressively to children and undermining local values and culture.

The Economy of Fast FoodThe prevalence of fast food may affect more than just people's eating choices - it

can also affect the economy. Fast food restaurants need lots of unskilled workers

who will work for close to minimum wage. Some analysts feel that this gives

unskilled workers an opportunity to find jobs. Others theorize that it weakens the

economy by causing people to accept low-wage jobs with little room for 

advancement.

In addition, large fast-food chains have buying power much the

wayWal*Mart does. In other words, large chains can influence how much their 

suppliers charge as well as how they process and distribute food and supplies.

Large chains also have the ability to make sizable contributions to charities and

other causes, such as the Ronald McDonald House.

See the links on the next page for more on nutrition, fast food and related topics. 

Image courtesy Brands of theWorld