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

Arrived on time and in excellent condition.

It is the definitive history of how the fast-food industry began. It also alludes to other fast-food chains & the markets in which they competed for the consumer dollar, particularly against White Castle.

Dr. Hogan is my professor and i always enjoy his lectures and I wanted to sign the book for me!

This book is very well researched, informative, and an interesting read. I loved reading how White Castle evolved over the years. A lot of hard work went into this book and it's well worth your time. Read it, and hopefully there will be a White Castle nearby for when you start craving a sackful.UPDATED: 9/23/2007David, As I'm sure you keep up with your reviews on Amazon, just wanted to say that I had some Whitecastles when I was in St Louis this summer, and I thought of your book and when you were doing the research on it. Just wanted to say that I still miss History class, good times!I ate 4 Whitecastles at the restaurant and enjoyed every one of them.VonHartenfeld

Still reading this book but so far is very good.

A very informative book for White Castle Enthusiasts.

Book is good, I am sure. BUT my father, Carl Juelke, opened a hamburger stand in 1921 called the "Hamburger Inn" in Atchison, Kansas, near the Pillsbury Flour Mill. He ran it 24 hours. When he built it in 1921, it was the year before he was married on Jan. 9, 1922. He had a copyright on the saying, "Buy 'em By the Sack". From Atchison,he acquired a partner, sold the one in Atchison, and moved to Kearney, NE. in 1923. They built up the business, sold it and moved to Hastings, NE. After building the business again, they moved to Fort Madison, IA. From there to Sprngfield, OH, where I was born. All of this was done in nearly six years. After selling the Springfield, OH Hamburger Inn, they moved to Huntington, W. VA, where they built seven. They lived there several years. The last ones they built were one in Belleville, IL where I started school--- And one in Chillicothe, MO. The men by this time had grown tired of the constant hassle of keeping cooks, etc. so decided to sell and buy a farm near Atchison, KS, where Carl was raised. This was told to me many times by both my father, Carl, and my uncle who was his partner. It was often discussed at family gatherings whether the folks from White Castle saw his success in 1921 in Atchison, KS. I have photos of some of the Hamburger Inns, they built them of white cement blocks. The menu was short, hamburgers, chili, coffee, Near Beer, Cokes, Cigarettes, candy bars, of course -- without digging out the photos, this is about the size of the menu as I remember. They always built near an industry and stayed open 24 hours a day. I just thought I would toss this in as there might be some people who remember the old Hamburger Inns. There is one still in business in OH, but it is one my Dad's brother, Albert built. He was not as successful as Carl, whose dream it was to be an entrepreneur in the food business while he was still in the Army in WWI. Interesting, huh?!

Dr. Hogan has an absolutely brilliant mind, and it shows in his writing. I had the privilege of having him as a professor during my undergraduate years. He is insightful and (believe me) always interesting.

A thoroughly flawed, but still useful and fascinating text for anyone studying fast food (a concept the author defines in a way I completely disagree with, and which I think misses the point). On occasions it reads like an advert for White Castle (because it sort of is), and it takes into account almost no historical cultural context to the concept it studies, but I'm still glad to find a fast food text as a grad student studying fast food.