I had bunch of errands that I have to finish so sorry for not respond sooner.
Here is from E mail that I got from them.
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E mail response from White castle, the headers won't be include due to my personal information being there.
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ABOUT AN IDEA - AND HOW IT GREW!
AN ABBREVIATED COMPANY HISTORY
The first White Castle opened in Wichita, Kansas, in 1921 on $700 of borrowed capital. The money was paid back in 90 days. To this day, White Castle has very little debt. It was the philosophy of the man who built White Castle, "Billy" Ingram that "he who owes no money cannot go broke."
At that time there were no limited menu fast food service restaurants like there are in nearly every town today. Many say that White Castle invented "limited menu, fast-food service," and developed and perfected methods that have become standard in the industry.
The name was selected because "White" signifies purity and cleanliness, and "Castle" represents strength, permanence and stability. The architecture of White Castle buildings was originally inspired by the famous old water tower in Chicago. The style has been modified from time to time over the years, but the "castellated" walls still appear on the newest White Castle buildings. The guiding rule of operation since the earliest days has been that of infinite attention to the smallest detail.
White Castle started with a superior product. The ground beef used in a White Castle hamburger is all beef and only beef. It is USDA inspected and graded beef. The ground beef is shaped and compressed into squares with five evenly spaced holes on White Castle patented equipment, so they cook quickly and uniformly. The hamburger patties are flash frozen, packed in sealed cartons, and shipped in freezer trucks to White Castle sub-zero freezer rooms located in every city, and in every restaurant that we operate.
Unlike ordinary hamburgers, White Castle hamburgers are cooked on a cushion of steam, without cooking oils or grease. The relative weight of beef vs. bun in a White Castle hamburger is no accident. We believe that this balance of food elements accounts for the fact that people eat our hamburgers day after day without seeming to tire of them.
In the early days, White Castle developed the idea of selling hamburgers by the sack, to carry out. In 1931 we developed individual heat-resistant cartons to keep them from being crushed in the sack. Containers for hot and cold drinks, pie, and other items were also developed so White Castle foods would reach their destination in good condition. These were more instances of White Castle pioneering, and White Castle infinite attention to detail. Today's sale of frozen hamburgers is a logical extension of that service.
The griddles on which White Castle hamburgers are cooked have been one of the most important of our developments. Today they are the result of over 80 years of constant experiment, research, and improvement. To cook our hamburgers in the needed quantities, and of the required quality, there must be even heat distribution and fine control of temperature changes. The griddle plates themselves are now made of cast aluminum designed so they can be removed easily for regular and rigid cleaning procedures.
From the beginning, White Castle designed and built its own buildings and most of its fixtures. In 1928 one of our White Castle team members invented a modular all-metal building and successfully obtained a patent on it. As far as we know, this building represented the first successful use of porcelain enamel as an architectural material. Prior to 1934, White Castle steel buildings were made to order by various outside suppliers. In 1934 we acquired land and buildings in Columbus, Ohio, and established Porcelain Steel Buildings Company to manufacture White Castle building s and all White Castle fixtures. At the same time, company headquarters were moved from Wichita to Columbus.
The company now owns and operates three bakeries for the exclusive purpose of producing White Castle buns, located in Ohio, New Jersey and Indiana. We own and operate three meat processing plants, two in Indiana and one in Ohio. Two frozen product plants are similarly owned and operated in Kentucky.
The success and growth of White Castle and its subsidiaries can be attributed to two things: the constant desire to improve, and the belief that happy people are the most profitable asset a company can have. It was "Billy" Ingram's philosophy - and it is that of the present management, headed by Bill Ingram, Billy's grandson, that "We have no right to expect loyalty except from those to whom we are loyal." Consequently, White Castle tries to have no "secrets" from team members. It was and is impressed on supervisory personnel that "a person can be strong without being brutal; can be firm without being mean; can exercise authority without being arrogant; can instruct, teach, and guide without being unkind." The company believes in promotion from within. All team members who have reached supervisory positions in restaurant operations started their careers behind the counter, cooking hamburgers. Certain Home Office positions require special education in areas such a!
s law, accounting, and research, but many Home Office executives also began their careers behind the counter.
White Castle team members share in the success of the company. Years before any thought of retirement benefits and other security measures, White Castle was practicing the principle as a natural part of the spirit of working together. In 1924 we installed a cash bonus plan for team members, based on sales rather than profit. This is shared by all team members on the basis of length of service, regardless of position or salary. This was unique in 1924 and still is today. In 1927 we instituted a plan of company-paid group life insurance. A loan fund was set up at the time for team member' use in the event of emergency, and sick benefits were provided. In 1943 a profit-sharing fund was started, not to replace, but in addition to the above.
It all started back in 1921 with a 5-cent hamburger. Now we are more than 12,000 people working together to bring you fine foods, at low prices, in 400+ immaculately clean White Castle restaurants. And we are still growing.
FEB07about.doc
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I did ask clearly if there was a White Castle in Washington D. C. Area in your (White Castle) company history. The above is what I got, not 100% answered my specific question.
I really don't know, but I love to debate over history of something significantly. Tousi may be right, who knows, sometimes there are people that don't believe that I remembered.
Lastly, and most importantly part of America restaurant history is that the fact of White Castle being one of two first fast food restaurants in the chain.
