History of Fast Food Essay

Fast forage has been a exploitation phenomenon for since its introduction in 20th century. The changes in American culture pushed the ready intellectual nourishment industriousness into a staggering growth arena and lay down changed the way consumers purchase and eat constantly. The closely- provender industry that now extends through turn out the universe of discourse has its roots in the United States. Fast- feed eaterys are often regarded as warning(a) of a new global culture, but the industry has indis vomitably been shaped by its American origins. (Leidner 8).Fast Food has developed from being a devisal to a necessity, widened the financial gap and became an international phenomenon. The archetypical drive-in eating place, Royce Haileys prey Stand in D all(prenominal)as, Texas, was open up in 1921, and offered pulled pork BBQ and introduced Texas Toast. As one southern fan of Royce Haileys pig foundation put it Folks went hog wild when the startle Pig Stand as sailable in Dallas in 1921. Agile elevator car hops leaped onto running boards of Model-Ts to recall curb service to a generation on the go.It was the age of the cable car, and Pig Stands multiplied across America debaseder than you can say soooo-eeee. It took the great(p) Depression of the 30s to slow The Pig down. (Sowa). Drive-in services were non truly prevalent at this quantify because automobiles were expensive and few and far mingled with during the Great Depression. Then nearly three decades later the drive-in eating place enjoyed a degree of success during the 1950s. Drive-ins celebrated the cultural importance of the automobile and Drive-in restaurants proved (to be the) roughly popular, places where carhops served customers directly in their put automobiles (Young, and Young 29).This convenience which enabled people to order their nourishment and eat it in the open air without having to unbuckle their seatbelts changed American lush diet forever (Woloson) . Car hops, as they were also called, became familiar congregation centers for teenagers as sound (Woloson). The rise of the quick food restaurant would not have been feasible without constant changes in American culture. The 1950s brought about American modus vivendi changes. With the end of the war Americans had saved money and moved to the suburbs.For the first time in history middle class married women with women with children were entering the wee hug. Married women comprised the majority of the growth in the female work force throughout the 1950s, and between 1940 and 1960 there was a 400 percent adjoin in the number of working mothers by 1960, women with children under the age of 18 accounted for nearly one-third of all women workers(Coontz 161). The working women and the decrease of free time may be a direct contributor to the growth of the abstain food industry.The development of an affordable automobile and the simultaneous g everyplacenmental encourage of new r oad systems physically reinforced this cultural melding, enabling car owners, especially, to go to places they had never been before. There was a boom in the tourer industry in the 1950s and 1960s. The key to the expansion of tourism beg was the rise in disposable incomes in the 1950s and 1960s. (Beauregard 225). Travelers, who once went by rail, boat, or horse, were now moving card-playinger by car. Consumers began to value things such(prenominal) as speed and convenience as part of their trips.Fast food restaurants began making their food faster and faster and Americans love the convenience of allow roughlyone else do the cooking, especially when they are vacationing (Bijlefeld, and Zoumbaris 51). As travelers not only did they need affordable and reliable places to stay they needed quick, convenient, and bum eateries. The need for fast, reliable, affordable, and convenient food, along with an increasing acceptance among Americans of more fast pace culture, led to the ris e of the fast food industry.Fast food restaurants sprang up in both urban areas and along the nations high-pitchedways in record numbers after the introduction of the fast food phenomenon known as McDonalds. The first fast food restaurant (was) opened by the two McDonald brothers in 1937 in Pasadena, California. Their established restaurant had go through high demand at specific times (for example, workers lunchtimes) and they responded with a modified menu (burgers) and were able to serve large numbers at high speed and low price.The assembly line procedures, with food preparation and dowry made into primary repetitive tasks, combined with a specialized theatrical role of labor for each stage, have been recognized as constituting the first fast food factory (Beardsworth, and Keil 120). This enabled people to get their food faster and isthmus the monetary standards for the future of the fast food industry. As the McDonalds scope grew and other gyves started to sprout up peo ple began to accept the new culture of food service. The working-class food held largely in disrepute.The gaining widespread popularity of fast food made it a staple food in diets of many Americans diets. The most successful of these stands quickly multiplied, taking advantage of the growing popularity of this new fast food and applied industrial principles of normalisation to its development. McDonalds is considered the first fast food restaurant and recognized the potential of this relatively fast and simple food. The organization of McDonalds created standardized methods in its production.The history of White castle dates brook to the 1920s is seen as the first and most influential restaurant chain (White Castle). White Castle is credited for beginning the en claimment system that inspired many (Woloson). White Castle impersonate standards, began standardization of the cooking line, and created the first restaurant which duplicated the original. In retrospect it can be said th at White Castle was the start and set high standards for all the other franchise restaurants in the United States. The hamburger fulfilled economical as well as cultural needs for inexpensive food.Although there was not a food shortage during the great depression food was expensive and affordable food options like the local hamburger stand was a blessing. By the end of 1930, White Castle had sold over 21 million hamburgers and then by the end of 1937, this number had increase to over 40 million (Woloson). Fast food began to make a steady incline towards the end of World War II. Franchises were not whimsical to the 1950s they had been around since the early decades of the twentieth century, patronized by a public increasingly used to and insistent upon the supposed reliability and trustworthiness of branded goods(Woloson).White Castle, A & W Root beer, and Howard Johnsons, were some of the first and most successful restaurant franchises. Although it took the ideals of postwar cultu re to wholly leap out the fast-food franchise it laid the foundations for the companies to make billions of dollars. In 1955 Ray A. Kroc, a boodle Milkshake salesman, discovered the McDonalds restaurant in California and truism a goldmine. He partnered with the McDonalds brothers, opening 228 franchises by 1960. Kroc happily bought out the McDonalds shares of the company in 1961.Kroc, an incredible entrepreneur, wanted to make the customers to identify with the restaurant and make it seem homey. By 1988, McDonalds had opened its ten 1000th restaurant and today there are over 30,000 McDonalds restaurants cosmopolitan (History of Franchising). Krocs success lay in his approach not specifically to cooking individual food items, but in conceiving of his franchise operation in its entirety (Woloson). The methods and success of McDonalds Franchises have set a tone for the fast food industry.Although White Castle was the first restaurant that encouraged carry-out for those customers o n the go the restraint developed standard floor plans and architectural designs that could be easily duplicated and set these standards for others in the industry (Woloson). McDonalds uniform restaurants, kitchens, dining rooms, and methods of standardized cooking techniques set this great restaurant apart and distinguish it from the other fast food restaurants. Ray Kroc had some competition with the introduction of popular fast food restaurants such as Taco gong, Wendys, and Burger King.One may say ethnic food could be considered a genre for the fast food franchise system, Taco Bell originated in 1962 and was the first ethnic franchise restaurant, paving the way for many more. Wendys, specializing in bigger, better, and more expensive hamburgers and introduced the first drive-thru windows at their restaurants, which were so popular that Burger King and McDonalds had to follow suit(Woloson). As an industry fast food will continue to grow, change, and adapt to the needs of the cultu re around it.Expanding to international markets the fast food industry offers cultural acceptable products. international fast-food shackles have now become household names, and in name of sales and units tend to dominate national markets. Indeed, the industry is becoming more internationalized with brands like Burger King being bought by the British multinational Diageo and McDonalds has recently bought a stake in Pret a Manger. However, some of the largest brands in this sector are still American-owned, such as McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut, and wimpy(Royle and Towers 3).One great sentiment is international fast food chains often support the local economy, buying local products, but viscous to the same well known recipes to get desired results. The fast food franchise of the 20th century has set and defined a world-renowned concept of the way people order, eat, and enjoy the food that they purchase. The fast food industry is one of enormous power and economic strength. Fast food restaurants translate Americas cultures and, in many ways, how other cultures strive to be like America.