Changes

Although the origin of the hamburger was likely sometime in the late 19th century as the factors of minced beef, popularized in Hamburg, and industrialization began to develop, it was the early 20th century the food became well established and began to reflect the nature of the changing American economy and life. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, US cities grew at a phenomenal rate. Meat was increasingly in great demand and also cheap food was on the rise. Hamburgers began to be associated with greasy places and often low quality food for the masses. This, however, changed with Walter "Walt" Anderson and Edgar Ingram opening the first White Castle restaurant in Wichita, Kansas. What was different is they utilised Anderson's idea of flavoring burgers with onions and other toppings while also creating hamburgers quicker and in higher number in an efficient assembly line process. This began to be called the White Castle System. The birth of "fast food" had begun in the 1920s as now the concept of the White Castle System spread and many branches began to open throughout the Midwest. What also greatly differed from earlier hamburger places is the meat was seen as 'safer.' Sinclair's famous book, <i>The Jungle</i>, did cause a re-evaluation of the meat packing industry and food standards improved. White Castle developed a more positive perception in the minds of consumers, leading to its popularity and spread.<ref>For more on the rise of the hamburger during the early 20th century, see: Levenstein, H. A. (2003). <i>Paradox of plenty: a social history of eating in modern America (Rev. ed)</i>. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.</ref>

Richard and Maurice McDonald introduced what would later become the popular McDonald brand in the 1940s. They developed a system called the Speedee Service System that also created hamburgers fast and efficiently. They also got those hamburger out to cars where people sat around waiting for their burgers. The drive-in concept was born and became very popular with customers. The McDonald brothers were also very innovative as they modified their kitchen to make the process efficient, including developing their own grills, introducing disposable forks and knives, and even dishwashers in restaurants are attributed to them as a way to speed up the process. However, it took Ray Kroc, whose story was highlighted in a recent movie (<i>The Founder</i>), who developed the idea of a franchise. The standardization of the burger making process was now the same for all restaurants and other foods, including milk shakes, were standardized and used different materials to speed up the process, perhaps at the expense of nutrition and quality. The hamburger meat itself was now standardized and processing of the beef was done before it arrived in the restaurants in a form of a meat patty. Nevertheless, the McDonald's name now took off as restaurants spread throughout the country using the standardization introduced and pushed by Kroc and his fellow franchise owners. Kroc and his colleagues also internationalized McDonald's bringing the food to many places, including Germany where arguable the concept of a hamburger was heavily influenced by that country's foods and Hamburg specifically.<ref>For more on the rise of the post-World War II franchises and modern hamburger in chain restaurants, see: Hogna, D. (1999).<i>Selling 'em by the sack: White Castle and the Creation of American Food</i>. New York, New York: NYU Press. </ref>