Whataburger, A Texas Treasure - Life in America

[Music] when harmon dobson opened the first whataburger on august 8th 1950 the golden age of drive-ins was just getting started his modest burger stand located in corpus christi texas offered something no one had ever seen before a burger so big that it required two hands to hold the five inch bun the first location sold the burgers for just 25 cents along with drinks and chips whataburger was an instant hit and harmon quickly expanded his company by opening a location in kingsville texas which was the first restaurant outside of corpus christi in 1959 the chain's first non-texas location was opened in pensacola florida [Music] whataburger had 17 locations across texas florida and tennessee by 1960. a year later the first of the distinctive orange and white a-frames opened in odessa texas dobson was an avid pilot and he liked the idea of being able to spot his restaurants from the sky so the architecture became the classic look of the whataburger chain [Music] throughout the 1960s the menu began to grow as well with french fries and hot pies being added in 1962 [Music] on april 11th 1967 tragedy struck and harmon dobson along with the business associate died in a plane crash dobson's cessna skymaster took off from an airport in laporte texas and according to eyewitnesses both engines failed and the plane fell from the sky at about a hundred feet dobson's wife grace refused to sell the chain after his death and the family rallied around her she was able to continue growing the business throughout the 1970s doubling the locations to 200. by this time whataburger was in 12 states the company also introduced the flying w company logo in 1972 which continues to be an iconic part of the brand even today [Music] during the early 1980s whataburger began using country music singer mel tillis as their commercial spokesman tillis who stuttered could be seen fighting through his stammers as he expressed his love for whataburger through the 1980s whataburger continued to evolve they began operating 24 hours a day and even added breakfast items to the menu in 1983 whataburger launched a new promotion called the nickel mug which allowed patrons to fill their mug with coffee for just a nickel it was intended to last for a year but the promotion continued until september 30th 1997 when it was finally discontinued tom dobson the son of harmon and grace was named ceo and president in 1993. following the change in leadership the company opened its 500th location making it the eighth largest hamburger chain in the country [Music] in 1996 the company launched what they call the wata games and since then they have served as an annual training exercise and competition for their employees representatives from every whataburger location as well as maintenance technicians compete in three categories operations corporate history and customer service each member of the gold medal winning team wins five thousand dollars while silver wins 2500 and bronze wins a thousand [Music] as a celebration of whataburger's 50th anniversary whataburger by the bay opened in corpus christi on may 6 1999. this flagship restaurant was a tribute to harman dobson and boasts beautiful water views with 6 000 square feet of restaurant space [Music] on april 9 2001 the texas state legislature officially recognized whataburger as a texas treasure whataburger and its founding family the dobsons were credited with capturing the hearts and taste buds of millions of texans if you were a fan of the animated series king of the hill you might also remember seeing a whataburger featured on the show on multiple occasions the series ran from 1997 through 2010 and was based on a family living in texas in 2009 the headquarters of whataburger was moved from corpus christi to a much larger 140 000 square feet office in san antonio by 2011 whataburger had grown to over 700 locations the dobson family was still majority owners with just over 100 locations being franchises but they had begun to consider selling their beloved business [Music] in 2019 the family sold whataburger to a chicago-based investment firm called bdt capital texans were not happy about the sale and even campaigned to buy it back [Music] the chain runs so deep in texas that some people have even gotten married at whataburger demonstrating their love for the chain the new president of whataburger ed nelson has said the company is still very much a texas brand and it was announced the headquarters would remain in san antonio [Music] after 70 years of selling burgers whataburger has grown to be an 800 restaurant chain that spans every state from arizona to florida the fast food chain has a cult following like no other so when was the last time you drove miles out of your way to eat at the famous orange and white a-frame [Music] [Music] restaurant you

Channel: Recollection Road

Views: 96,048

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, whataburger, texas, mel tillis, harmon dobson, burger, fast food, a-frame, drive-in, restaurant

Id: NhYF_nhAQGM

Length: 8min 9sec (489 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 05 2021