Cleveland State University EngagedScholarship@CSU MSL Academic Endeavors eBooks Books 2016 Fast-Food Restaurant Industry: A Cleveland Perspective 1930-2016 Richard Klein Cleveland State University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/msl_ae_ebooks Part of the Urban Studies and Planning Commons How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! Recommended Citation Klein, Richard, "Fast-Food Restaurant Industry: A Cleveland Perspective 1930-2016" (2016). MSL Academic Endeavors eBooks. 2. https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/msl_ae_ebooks/2 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Books at EngagedScholarship@CSU. It has been accepted for inclusion in MSL Academic Endeavors eBooks by an authorized administrator of EngagedScholarship@CSU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FAST-FOOD RESTAURANT INDUSTRY A CLEVELAND PERSPECTIVE 1930-2016 Richard Klein, PhD FAST-FOOD RESTAURANT INDUSTRY A CLEVELAND PERSPECTIVE 1930-2016 RICHARD KLEIN, PH.D FAST-FOOD RESTAURANT INDUSTRY A CLEVELAND PERSPECTIVE 1930-2016 RICHARD KLEIN, PH.D 2016 MSL Academic Endeavors Imprint of Michael Schwartz Library at Cleveland State University Published by MSL Academic Endeavors Cleveland State University Michael Schwartz Library 2121 Euclid Avenue Rhodes Tower, Room 501 Cleveland, Ohio 44115 http://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/ ISBN: 978-1-936323-54-8 This work is licensed under a CreatIve Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................................... i INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................. ii CHAPTER ONE: AMERICA’S FAST-FOOD INDUSTRY: THE EARLY YEARS ............................................ 1 CHAPTER TWO: DRIVE-IN RESTAURANTS GAIN A NATIONAL FOLLOWING .................................... 23 CHAPTER THREE: CLEVELAND FAST FOOD RESTAURANTS COME OF AGE ...................................... 53 CHAPTER FOUR: A CLEVELAND CLASSIC: BEARDEN’S FAMILY RESTAURANT ................................. 58 CHAPTER FIVE: MANNER’S BIG BOY RESTAURANT: THE BEST DEAL IN TOWN ............................... 78 CHAPTER SIX: OTHER CLEVELAND FAST-FOOD FAVORITES ........................................................... 111 CHAPTER SEVEN: A LOCAL FAST-FOOD LEGEND: KENNY KING’S RESTAURANTS .......................... 131 CHAPTER EIGHT: DRIVE-IN RESTAURANTS: FOOD AND FUN FOR EVERYONE .............................. 157 IMAGES: Fast Food Restaurant Industry ....................................................................................... 168 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................................... 177 INDEX ............................................................................................................................................. 194 Fast-Food Restaurant Industry: A Cleveland Perspective: 1930 - 2016 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This book celebrates more than 80 years of the Cleveland fast-food restaurant business and its many satisfied customers. An important part of a highly innovative national phenomenon, Cleveland’s many quick service restaurants offer affordable tasty meals and snacks for thousands of customers annually. Drive-in restaurants with their numerous car hops have played an important role in this process. I wish to recognized the many men and women who have provided their many patrons the very best in customer service and food since the 1930s. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank my colleagues and friends who helped me in this endeavor. Special thanks to Mr. William C. Barrow, Head, Special Collections, Cleveland State University (CSU) Michael Schwartz Library, and William C. Beckenbach, Urban Center Fellow, CSU, for their insight throughout this endeavor. Special thanks also to Ms. Carol Zsulya, Business & Government Documents Librarian, CSU, who not only helped in the research process itself; but also offered some valuable information as to how the fast-food business operates and that industry’s impact on the local, regional, national, and international scenes. Others I would also like to thank include Ms. Lynn Duchez Bycko, Special Collections Manager, and Ms. Donna L. Stewart, Digital Production Unit Assistant, Michael Schwartz Library, for their expert assistance in locating relevant photos of both local and national quick service restaurants that have played crucial roles in this most important industry. Lastly, I thank my wife Jo Ann for her most valuable assistance throughout the entire process. i Fast-Food Restaurant Industry: A Cleveland Perspective: 1930 - 2016 INTRODUCTION The continued success of fast-casual restaurants has significantly impacted the fast-food industry. They cater to customers with very discriminating palates. What many patrons in today’s world may not realize is that fast-casuals emanated from earlier independent drive-ins along with innovative regional and national fast-food chains. These drive-ins provided good tasting food at reasonable prices. Their informal settings and friendly service especially appealed to teenagers, young adults, and large families. This writing will focus on some of the major fast-food establishments that served Greater Cleveland and how they evolved over time. Emphasizes will also be placed on some of the smaller, as well as larger, restaurants. To lend additional clarity, this study will investigate some leading national chains whose innovations within the industry set the pace for current development. Fast-food enterprises represent much more than simply dispensing inexpensive meals and snacks. They reflect the country’s informal lifestyle that emerged during the post-war period. A part of the blossoming suburban movement and emerging Baby Boomer generation, fast-food restaurants satisfied the changing needs and wants of their many patrons daily. Of course nothing lasts forever. Some of the early success stories soon ended, while others grew. Changing business attitudes and practices along with a certain amount of luck often determined the final outcome. The fast-food industry demonstrates the best in American ingenuity geared towards the needs and wants of its patrons. But unlike other amorphous businesses whose luster may wear off with time, local fast-food restaurants, as reflected through specific drive-in sites, remain fun places for thousands to eat in daily. ii Fast-Food Restaurant Industry: A Cleveland Perspective: 1930 - 2016 CHAPTER ONE: AMERICA’S FAST-FOOD INDUSTRY: THE EARLY YEARS The Industrial Revolution that first unfolded when the Scottish engineer and inventor James Watt (1736-1819) developed the steam engine in 1765 had a tremendous impact worldwide. In part an outgrowth of the Age of Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution represented a period of unprecedented business inventiveness. Spurred on by a new surge in outside investment, occurring in conjunction with an easing of both labor and liability restrictions, it set the stage for previously unimagined new advances in numerous business- related endeavors. Mobile markets and large labor pools ensured its success. However, the Industrial Revolution involved much more than enhancing production modes, mobilizing potential markets, or harnessing new sources of labor. Had that been its major goal, then its impact would have been primarily confined to large urban centers with little spill-over affect in other, more remote places. However, that was not the case. The Industrial Revolution made an everlasting impression on both urban and rural scenes. It achieved its lofty goal through human resourcefulness, a resourcefulness fueled by a rudimentary understanding of the sundry business and economic forces responsible for its development. Once set in motion, its practicality affected nearly every aspect of human existence. It began simply enough with the augmentation of mechanized production and simultaneous advances in both agricultural production and harvesting. From those vantage points, it proceeded ahead swiftly climaxing in unprecedented medical and scientific discoveries that followed closely on the heels of the universal distribution of low-cost labor saving devices. Astute entrepreneurs able to comprehend the many economic and social advantages of these breakthroughs left nothing to chance. Their “anything was possible” world provided that proper planning occurred upfront. This newly found optimism regarding future business prospects manifested itself in resource laden nations such as the United States. This nation’s remarkable transformation from a small, cottage-based economy to a foremost, industrial powerhouse within a 100-year span supports this premise. However, this revolution represented more than just a drastic change in the nation’s business and economic priorities. It led to significant improvements in the quality of life for millions of Americans. For the first time in modern memory, municipal and business leaders worked together to promote a host of worthwhile health and safety reforms. At first, everyday concerns consumed a great deal of their efforts. They dealt with many issues ranging from such things as the proper sprinkling of dirt-covered streets and abating nuisances to improving local safety services and constructing impressive new