The First Fast Food French Fries Didn't Come From McDonald's

In the world of fast food, McDonald's remains at the top of the food chain as the largest in the world. And although the corporation has had many huge successes with its menu items over the years, minus such historic clunkers as the Hula burger — a slice of pineapple on a bun — in the 1960s — and McDonald's hot dogs 30 years later, it has continued to maintain a massive presence in the market. That may be because McDonald's isn't really known for taking big risks. It can't even lay claim to being the first fast food company to sell French fries in the United States.

It was a much smaller, but no less iconic company — White Castle — that has bragging rights on fries. It can also claim another biggie. White Castle was founded in 1921 in Wichita, Kansas earning it the title of the original fast food restaurant. White Castle first introduced French fries to its menu in the mid-1940s during World War II. McDonald's didn't introduce fries to its menu until 1949, the same year it started selling milkshakes.

During World War II, the federal government instituted a national rationing program on resources deemed necessary for the war effort, including meat, sugar, coffee, and butter. Rationing hit fast food restaurants hard, including White Castle. Short on hamburger meat, the company resorted to selling egg sandwiches, chili, and grilled cheese. Vegetables, on the other hand, were still available. White Castle, desperate for menu items, began selling coleslaw and French fries. When the war and rationing ended, coleslaw was gone but fries stayed thanks to their new-found popularity as a side dish for hamburgers. The trend eventually caught on.

Brothers Richard "Dick" and Maurice "Mac" McDonald originally sold potato chips with their burgers at their San Bernardino, California restaurant, but switched to French fries in 1949, a year after opening their hamburger stand. It was their fries that hooked Ray Kroc, the man who led McDonald's to unprecedented heights with more than 41,000 McDonald's restaurants and counting across the globe. Kroc became obsessed with the McDonald's brothers fries and, after buying the restaurant's franchise rights, scaled up French fry production with fanatical verve. McDonald's fries may still be beloved by many, but it was White Castle that did it first.