Fast Food Nation Chapter 1: The Founding Fathers

1. What restaurant chain did Carl Karcher start?

-Carl Karcher started the Carl Jr.'s restaurant chain.

2. What was the "Speedee Service System" and how was it different from what other fast food restaurants were doing?

-The Speedee Service System incorporated production techniques originally seen in factories into the restaurant kitchens. The McDonald brothers liquidated all of their workers and completely changed their system. They separated every single task that needed to be completed during the production of a hamburger (now their only item, another part of the system) such as the cooking, the buns, the ketchup, etc. The simplified each job so that it could be performed by an untrained worker. This regulated employee costs and allowed them to advertise employment to a new demographic: teenagers. Unskilled, unemployed, looking to make some extra money. Other restaurants still had a wide variety of choices on their menus and chefs making each order. These highly trained chefs were difficult to replace, and the wide variety of food took more time to make, essentially costing these companies money.