machine was built with two separate refrigerated tanks located at the top. One tank contained a vanilla milkshake mix, and the other one a chocolate mix. In the center of the machine was the freezing cylinder. Over the cylinder was a motor that drove an attached beater assembly. The beater had hinged blades extending down into the freezing cylinder.
When a shake was ordered, the operator pulled a little lever at either the chocolate or vanilla tank. This activated a device that lifted a measured portion of mix and ladled it into an adjoining stainless steel reservoir. From there, the mix drained down a clear plastic tube directly into the freezing cylinder. At the precise moment the mix entered the cylinder, the shake machine operator threw a switch on the motor to activate the beater assembly. This had the effect of throwing the liquid mix against the stainless steel freezer cylinder wall where the mix froze and thickened instantly while the beater blades scraped the product off the cylinder wall and extruded it into a paper cup positioned at the bottom of the assembly.
If the ladle had picked up the right amount of mix, the cup would be full. Unfortunately, it didn’t always work out that way. If the ladle had picked up too much mix, the cup overflowed and left a mess to clean up. If too little mix entered the cylinder, there was a need to jostle just enough additional mix for another run-in order to fill the cup. Usually that exercise resulted in drawing too much mix, which created still another mess. We tried not to talk about slightly discolored vanilla shakes, produced after a chocolate had been run, which were referred to internally by employees as mochas. We just hoped the customers wouldn’t object.
Notwithstanding all of the problems we encountered in using the Insta-shake machines, the product was really exceptionally good. It had a velvety smooth texture, and it was quite cold and never grainy. Thanks to the unique process, the shake was produced with a very small overrun, which is a term used to describe the amount of air that is incorporated into a milkshake. Very little air was beaten into this product which made it much more palatable than shakes made today on the modern batch-type milkshake machines.
When Cramer and Burns were building their first Insta-Burger restaurant in Jacksonville, they met with Dave on several occasions. He had spoken to their regional manager and obtained approval to serve hamburgers in his planned Dairy Queen store. When he met Cramer and Burns, the foundation had already been poured on the building he had in mind. After looking over the Insta-System, which planned to sell milkshakes, French fries, and hamburgers, he abandoned the Dairy Queen idea in favor of joining Cramer and Burns.
Before the restaurant opened, Dave suggested that they change the name from Insta-Burger to Insta-Burger King. He also drew a picture of a king character sitting on a hamburger with his arms around a milkshake and gave the sketch to Cramer and Burns with the suggestion that they use it as a trademark. The restaurant later opened as Insta-Burger King, with a sign featuring the king on the bun sitting on top of a pylon that extended vertically twelve feet above the roof of the building. The Insta- name was prominently displayed on the front fascia of the building, and the name Burger King appeared just beneath it.
The agreement with George Read was changed to provide that the name of the restaurants opened in future would bear the name Insta-Burger King. It also provided that the king on the bun symbol, along with the name Insta-Burger King, would be used as trademarks and service marks. These were already registered in Washington by Cramer and Burns. Dave expected nothing in return, and he received nothing. This first use of the Burger King name was destined to become one of the most popular and widely known brand names in the world.
Dave contracted with Cramer and Burns to build the second Insta-Burger King drive-in restaurant in Miami. In contemplating this, he realized that he needed additional capital if he was ever to expand this business concept any further. He felt that operating just a single self-service drive-in wouldn’t make economic sense. He set about attracting a partner who could help supply additional capital and assist him building the business. Returning to Miami, he went to see Harvey Fuller, who owned a restaurant on Flagler Street. Harvey was one of Miami’s better-known restaurateurs, whom I went to see when I was building the Brickell Bridge Restaurant. It was Harvey who encouraged me to join the Miami Restaurant Association, where I was later elected president. Harvey took a serious look at Dave’s idea, and although he was attracted by it and thought the idea had some promise, he wasn’t inclined at his age to invest in an unproven business concept of this sort. He suggested that Dave talk to me about it. Dave took the suggestion, and this resulted in the two of us getting together.
Dave opened his Insta-Burger King on March 1,1954, at 3090 NW 36th Street in Miami. The building and the paved parking lot cost $13,000, which gives some idea of the modest nature of the facility. Dave didn’t have the means to build this building by himself, but he was able to convince the owner of the property to build it and lease it back to him. Dave’s Insta-Burger King was the second restaurant using that name, but it attracted only a modest amount of interest from the public, averaging sales of less than one hundred dollars a day. The Insta-Burger King concept was a novel experiment in food service at that time, and the public simply wasn’t ready for it. Even so, Dave felt confident that in time the public would become familiar with it and that business would ultimately pick up.
Prior to this time very few restaurants in the country offered self-service as a way of serving customers. This system required customers to come up to an ordering window, pay in advance, and wait for their order to be filled. Food was placed in paper trays or put in paper containers and paper bags. In the early 1950s this was a completely new and different style of service unfamiliar to restaurant patrons. After being served, customers had an option to eat in their cars or on seats provided on an open patio adjoining one side of the building. In 1954 in Miami that idea was unproven, unfamiliar, and unpopular. Business continued to be slow, but Dave was intrigued by the idea of a restaurant with a limited menu, fast service, and low prices. His enthusiasm was very evident on those occasions when we had dinner together at my Brickell Bridge Restaurant. He stopped by often during the time his new restaurant concept was getting ready to open.
As we came to know each other better, Dave stepped up the pressure to join him as a business partner. He had invested almost all of his available capital in opening this first store. I must admit that the idea did intrigue me. I had sold my first restaurant, the Colonial Inn, a few months earlier, and for the first time in my life I had a little capital available. I thought carefully about the implications of joining him as a business partner.
The Brickell Bridge Restaurant was doing well at the time, but it was obvious to me that this purely commercial-type restaurant could never be developed into a multi-unit chain operation, and that was really what I had in mind. With Dave continuing to insist that I come out to see his new Insta-Burger King, I sensed that this might be an opportunity worth looking into. I accepted his invitation and agreed to take a look at it whenever he opened for business.
One evening in April, Nancy and I drove out to 36th Street to meet Dave and see what his new enterprise was all about. I was intrigued with the cleanliness and brightness of the place, but what attracted me the most was the simplicity of the operation. I couldn’t help but agree with Dave that this idea had the potential to be developed into a chain of restaurants. After our initial visit, Dave stepped up his persuasive appeal to join him in this venture. I liked Dave and thought that we would make a good team and enjoy a compatible working relationship. My problem was coming up with the capital necessary to match Dave’s investment. This would require that I sell the Brickell Bridge Restaurant, and this in turn would shut off my source of income.
From the beginning we spoke in terms of making equal investments so the two of us would become equal partners. I thought this was a reasonable and fair approach, but first I needed to confirm what Dave had told me about his capital investment and the profitability of the business. I asked him to let me look over whatever financial records he had in this regard. I planned to match whatever investment he had made, so information of this sort was necessary before I reached a final decision.
One must understand Dave Edgerton a bit in order to appreciate the fact that here was a guy who never focused very much on details, particularly those concerning financial matters. Accounting, financial issues, and money matters simply didn’t interest him. Dave was a highly creative and extraordinarily bright person, predisposed to