Special Reports

Special Reports

How We Got Here: 1920s

A century ago, labor wasn’t the only industry concern that could have been lifted from today’s roster of pressing issues.

Special Reports

How We Got Here: 1930s

After relocating from Kansas City, Mo., to the more central location of Chicago, the National Restaurant Association continued to focus on Depression issues.

The eruption of World War II brought shortages of food, equipment and labor—precisely as demand for meals prepared outside the home soared to 60 million meals per day, triple the prewar level. Some es...

The industry grappled with government-imposed pricing controls, the result of a nationwide beef shortage and tight supplies of other staples, while vying with other fast-growth industries for new employees.

The restaurant industry faced a critical challenge when President John F. Kennedy posed a hike in the federal minimum wage as a patriotic way of combating poverty and a growing disparity in incomes.

The decade kicked off with an industrywide promotional campaign that would live on for years and whose tagline would ultimately be “borrowed” by the city of Chicago for its tourism promotion efforts: “We’re Glad You’re Here.”

The decade would be regarded by many as a golden age for the restaurant industry. The business itself grew by leaps and bounds.

When war broke out with Iraq over its invasion of Kuwait, U.S. restaurants braced for a downturn in traffic.

The National Restaurant Association undertook a program to polish the industry’s image.

The decade brought a pressing need for restaurateurs to revamp their vocabularies.

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