Selling 'em by the Sack: White Castle and the Creation of American Food (Hardcover)

by David Hogan (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews
A scholar's lively account of how White Castle, now a largely overlooked but still profitable also-ran in the domestic restaurant trade, made the once-scorned hamburger a US institution and launched the fast-food industry. Drawing on a variety of sources, historian Hogan (Heidelberg Coll.) first reviews the ethnic and regional character of America's food preferences prior to the 1920s. He goes on to document the accomplishments of the two men who founded White Castle late in 1921 in Wichita, Kans.: Walt Anderson, inventor of the hamburger, and Billy Ingram, whose marketing genius helped make Anderson's creation a staple of American diets. On the strength of standardization, quality control, a commitment to cleanliness, and conservative financial practices, they soon had a lucrative national network of faux-citadel outlets vending tiny ground-meat patties served with an abundance of pungent onions on diminutive buns for a nickel apiece; enjoining customers to ``buy em by the sack,'' the partners also pioneered the take-out business. Although it survived the Great Depression in fine style, White Castle was hard hit by WW II's home-front price controls, shortages, and restrictions. Having staggered through the 1940s, however, the company retained its fanatically loyal clientele in the cities while formidable new rivals (Big Boy, Gino's, Hardee's, Howard Johnson, McDonald's, et al.) preempted fast-growing suburban markets. Although no longer a leader in the field of franchising giants it helped create, White Tower occupies a rewarding niche that, thanks to effective management practices, promises to provide worthwhile returns for years to come. Informed and engaging perspectives on an often ignored aspect of cultural and commercial Americana. The 20 illustrations include contemporary photos of White Castle outlets and the company's early advertisements. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Review

"A fascinating story . . .Hogan tells a truly American success story—luck and hard work behind one man to create an industry so pervasive that today it's an integral part of American pop culture."

- Publishers Weekly

"Hogan makes a convincing case for White Castle's influence."

- Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post

"A scholar's lively account of how White Castle, now a largely overlooked but still profitable also-ran in the domestic restaurant trade, made the once-scorned hamburger a U.S. institution and launched the fast-food industry. . . . Informed and engaging perspectives on an often ignored aspect of cultural and commercial Americana."

- Kirkus Reviews

"Full of fascinating details, not only for devotees of the ubiquitous 'slider,' but also for pop-culturists interested in American fast food and how it all got started."

- Minneapolis Star Tribune

"David Hogan's love of fast food goes back at least twenty years: I remember talking to him while he gulped down a McDonald's before the start of class. Few historians I know would be able to translate their penchant for fast food into a wonderful case study of the first chain to sell huge numbers of hamburgers-to-go. Selling 'em by the Sack, which traces the fortunes and failures of White Castle from the 1920s to the 1990s, deftly blends biography, social history, and corporate history. In doing so, Hogan gives us a fascinating glimpse into American popular culture."

- Andrew Achenbaum, Professor of History, University of Michigan

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 199 pages
• Publisher: NYU Press (December 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814735665
• ISBN-13: 978-0814735664
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #939,664 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hamburger History, December 21, 1999

By	"matrixzine" (Lawrence, KS.) - See all my reviews

Before there was the fast food hamburger shops of today, there was White Castle. And before White Castle, the lowely hamburger was not a respected food. Selling 'Em By the Sack describes the history of the hamburger in American culture and why White Castle started in Wichita, KS. Not only a history lesson about White Castle but a social history of American eating habits in the 20th century. So forget about those other hamburger joints and read where it all got started.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I think Ill wolf down a dozen, December 25, 2000

By	Joseph Haschka (Glendale, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Selling 'em by the Sack: White Castle and the Creation of American Food (Paperback)

SELLING `EM BY THE SACK can be perceived and read for any one or more of several reasons. As an informal textbook on business management, or maybe marketing. As a social commentary on the rise of fast food, or possibly what defines America to the rest of the world. Or, as just a history of the hamburger from a culinary standpoint.

The author, David Hogan, effectively makes the case that White Castle and its founders, Billy Ingram and Walt Anderson (especially the former), were the originators of the fast food "carryout" concept, and that they established the humble hamburger as the distinctive ethnic cuisine of the USA. The evolutionary history of White Castle from the early part of the 20th century to the present is described, from its founding in Wichita in 1921, through the Depression and two wars (W.W.II and Korea), to the era of the big chains (like McDonald's and Burger King), which, miraculously, have not brought about its demise. Along the way, Billy Ingram and his successors have successfully coped with an endless series of challenges, the first of which was to make the hamburger perceived as a sanitary and healthy food at all. Then came standardization of the product, national expansion, gaining credibility with and acceptance from the middle class, coping with war rationing, the hiring of women, surviving the rise of the superchains, adapting to suburbanization of the cities, defending against rising urban crime, facing increasing government regulations, and answering the health-conscious critics' attacks on the fast food lifestyle.

Today, White Castle survives as a barely medium-sized chain in the north-central and northeast regions of the United States. It has kept alive the guiding principles of its founders, has acquired a fanatical following, and remains profitable at a time when even larger chains, like Burger Chef and White Tower, have since disappeared from the American landscape.

SELLING `EM BY THE SACK is not a "thriller", offers no high drama, is written with no humor whatsoever, and is actually a little dry. Had it been about a brand of toothpaste or bread, I wouldn't have bothered. But, it's about hamburgers. (Oddly enough, cheeseburgers are never mentioned in any context.) So, I read it, was entertained, and learned a lot.

I've never eaten a White Castle. Where I live, in Southern California, the brand is represented only by its frozen burgers that one can buy in the supermarkets. I've seen them in packages of a dozen. They seem ridiculously small when compared with McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King, Jack-In-the-Box, Carl's, or In-`n'-Out. I think I'll buy a "sack".

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-have!, December 1, 1999

By	Mr. Chips (Columbia, MO USA) - See all my reviews

This is a great book. It very nicely documents the rise of the hamburger and White Castle in 1920's America. Hogan follows White Castle through the early times, when a man could work there and make enough to support a family, through the depression, the rough war years, and more recent competition with the fast food giants. I'm not sure why he waited until the last two pages to tell readers what makes White Castle special and has enabled it to persist for so long....but this is a minor complaint. Excellent!