Famous Fish & Chips from Arthur Treacher's - Life in America

[Music] in the 1970s there was one place you could rely on for good inexpensive seafood that place was arthur treacher's fish and chips the chain was founded in 1969 in columbus ohio the chain aggressively expanded right off the bat by the early 1970s hundreds of locations were in operation across the country [Music] [Music] english-born and cleveland-raised actor bob hope helped craft the image of the company the company acquired the recipe from mallons of london which originated the idea of serving customers with on-the-go deep-fried fish and chips soaking them in malt vinegar in the 1860s bob hope also suggested the company work with arthur treacher who was an english actor that became the face of the company he was best known for playing the butler jeeves in shirley temple movies in the 1960s he became well known on american television as a sidekick to talk show host merv [Music] griffin [Music] [Music] in the old days arthur treacher would show up at restaurant openings in a double-decker bus and it made customers feel like they were in england [Music] treacher was very much involved in the development and advertisement of his namesake restaurant not only was his name licensed for the franchise but he was also their spokesman this boosted the restaurant's popularity and fast food culture [Music] arthur treacher's recipe and menu was simple they focused on the british staple of fried fish with a side of chips and served it up in large quantities his recipe called for the best icelandic cod fillets dipped in a secret batter deep fried to a golden brown and served with chips salt and malt vinegar [Music] [Music] the restaurant's specialty became especially important for many families during lent when catholics are prohibited from consuming meat on fridays lent was one of the busiest times of the year for the chain [Music] [Music] [Music] things started to go south when the price of cod skyrocketed due to the cod wars iceland imposed a 200 mile fishing limit around the country meaning british fishing companies lost access to waters rich with cod in fact the two countries almost went to war over the issue [Music] in 1979 arthur treachers was sold to mrs paul's seafood the new owners quickly replaced the cod with less expensive pollock and the change turned off consumers [Music] throughout the 1980s arthur treachers went through several owners and quickly began to lose ground to its competitors such as mcdonald's and long john silvers before long hundreds of locations closed [Music] the chain isn't completely gone however now there are only three of the original old style stores left all in northeast ohio the busiest is garfield heights some even co-branded with stores such as nathan's famous hot dog or salvatore's old-fashioned pizzeria which serve arthur creatures as part of their menu [Music] seafood can be a tricky cuisine to get right if you don't live near the coast the food may not be fresh it can also be expensive so not many national fast food chains are willing to put it on the menu but arthur treachers was and they were one of the few who did it well [Music] [Music] the arthur treacher yellow lantern was literally a beacon for those craving british style fish and chips what do you remember most about your visits to arthur treacher's [Music] you

Channel: Recollection Road

Views: 129,587

Keywords: Recollection Road, nostalgia, memories, photos, history, closed, forgotten, business, past, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, memory, yesteryear, golden age, photo album, oldies, fifties, sixties, abandoned, 20th century, arthur treacher, fish & chips, fish and chips, british, arthur Treacher's fish and chips, arthur treacher's, seafood, cod, bob hope, shirley temple, fast food, ohio

Id: sb2N452SbAA

Length: 8min 2sec (482 seconds)

Published: Fri May 07 2021