Maplewood History: White Castle – A Love Story

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I remember reading somewhere, perhaps in the comments of one of my posts, someone wrote that he would wait in the Maplewood White Castle for the streetcar.  I’ve been curious ever since about just where was the White Castle before it occupied its current location at Manchester and Big Bend.

A recent discovery on Ebay of an early photograph of a White Castle in Maplewood has inspired me to do a little digging into the history of the company.  In 1921, the founders, Walt Anderson and Billy Ingram, borrowed $700 to build the first White Castle in Wichita Kansas. Due mainly to the marketing genius of Ingram, their business took off like a rocket.

They invented the concept of American fast food.  In particular, they were the first to popularize hamburgers on buns.  And boy did they!   Just writing about them makes me want to head down there.  Many others quickly imitated but they were the first.  Their commitment to cleanliness, high quality products and their employees well being all contributed to their spectacular success.

I was lucky to have some reference material on hand.  This book I would highly recommend.  It contains some impressive research.

I also had on hand this 28 page pamphlet by one of the founders, E.W. (Billy) Ingram, Sr.

Using Newspapers.com, this article is the first mention that I find of White Castle in the St. Louis area.  It is from 1926.  The company was only 5 years old.

Just a year-and-a-half later, White Castle employees are already getting a bonus of $7,100.  That is a sizeable sum for 1927.  This was part of a generous profit sharing plan that Billy had put in place.  Note that now there are 16 restaurants in St. Louis.

From Selling ’em by the Sack.  Many of the early Castles occupied space in buildings that already existed.

By 1928, the White Castle founders had their own airplane.  How many 5 cent hamburgers does it take to buy an airplane?

Also from Selling ’em by the Sack.

By June of 1929, this ad lists not one but two locations in Maplewood!  One at 7204 Manchester and another at 7417.

One hundred and six…wow.

“And they’re so tasty,” says Miss Norris. I agree.

In this promotion from 1935, there are still two locations in Maplewood on Manchester.  The 7417 address is gone.  Now we have 7411 Manchester (at Sutton) listed.

By the end of 1940, 7411 Manchester is the only Maplewood location.

IN 1948, the whole north side of the 7400 block of Manchester gets sold.  White Castle is still there in March of 1949.  The WC building is visible in this image.

The WC building is also visible in this image of the Roeper-Danz Ford dealer.  As stated in the newspaper article, the Ford agency was preparing for their move to a location at Manchester and Big Bend. We can assume that at some point this agency became known as Cavalier Ford which many of us recall.  This image is courtesy of Mary Piles, historian for CNB bank in Maplewood.

The above image is of the White Castle that had been mentioned in the newspaper article.  The address must have been 7411 Manchester.  This image is another of those “missing links.”  I was thrilled to see this and bought a copy from the owner of the postcard on Ebay.  Alert reader Lew deserves the credit for finding it.  I do not know anything about the building with the chimney in the background.  I’m pretty sure that I have never seen an image of it before.

The above article appeared in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on February 23, 1964.  As far as I can tell, Maplewood was White Castle deprived from roughly 1950 until the construction of the one above.

I know I snapped a few photos of this one when it was demolished a few years ago but I cannot find them.  So if any of you have images of it that you’d like to share, I’ll be happy to add them to my archive.  Just a reminder that everything I have found about the history of our community will one day go to either our library or one of the state historical societies.

White Castle is a fine business.  They have always delivered a quality product.  I am highly suspicious of those who say the WC product plays havoc with their digestive tract.  They don’t with mine, I’m happy to report.

The White Castle company has always taken care of their employees.  They have good health care, pensions and profit sharing.

So I say, let’s have few.  I prefer the jalapeno cheese burgers.  See you down there.

Doug Houser        August 18, 2024

From Buying ’em by the Sack.

 

 

 

6 COMMENTS

  1. Doug, I would have been 15 at the time of the 1964 article…and going to the high school a block over. I seem to remember their being a smaller, very much a castle-type building being in essentially the same location. I don’t remember it was ever closed. I recall in Junior High at MRH (at about 12, the girls in the PE locker room talking about how their dad had brought home a bag of White Castles for Friday dinner. I very much remember this in that my family never ate there nor our dad brought anything like that home. It’s the first time I really knew anything about White Castles. When I was in high school, this new building was a big upgrade to the old building. I thought it was built next or very near to the other. Classmates of my era might know more. Marty C.? Skip W.? Thx for all this info. Love it!!

  2. The original White Castle was on Manchester just west of Katz. My mother grew up just up the street on Sutton. My father was from Jennings. When he was dating my mom he used to wait at White Castle for the streetcar to take him home.

  3. Great article Doug. I remember eating at the one at Manchester and Big Bend. You would sit on stools at the window and watch traffic. Love me some White Castles!

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