In-N-Out Burger

by Stacy Perman

  Taylor released a statement shortly after heading up the chain in which he personally promised that “the family is absolutely committed to keeping the company private and family-operated.” He assured everyone that In-N-Out would continue on the path “laid out for us by our founders,” growing at a moderate pace, adding only ten to twelve new restaurants each year. He also refuted the constant murmurings that the chain would now go public.

  By fall, the questions raised for months among In-N-Out loyalists seemed to have been answered, at least for the time being. The hint of corporate catastrophe was pushed back. The hoopla around In-N-Out seemed to center once again on its burgers. In the early morning hours of Thursday, September 7, Paris Hilton was arrested in Hollywood on suspicion of DUI. Hilton, who had only a year earlier filmed a racy commercial for Carl’s Jr., defended herself on a local radio station soon after, saying that she may have been speeding because “I was just really hungry, and I wanted to have an In-N-Out burger.”

  Indeed, the little burger chain continued to make its mark across the spectrum. Known as the anti-chain with the cult-like mystique, it earned plaudits from no less than the Harvard Business School and rated a full-scale analysis from the Cornell Hotel & Restaurant Quarterly. Even the youth of America recognized that a meal at In-N-Out would make a big impression, apparently. In November 2006, when Brian Barry was asked what famous person he would like to have lunch with, the eight-year-old told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune it would be Neil Armstrong and he didn’t hesitate to offer to take the astronaut to In-N-Out. “Neil and I would have cheeseburgers with onions,” Barry informed the paper.

  In November, as Brian Barry was hoping to take his favorite spaceman to his favorite burger place, Lynsi gave birth to twins: a boy and a girl. Soon after, she purchased Esther’s Glendora home. There was speculation that she might convert it into a church.

  With the birth of her children, according to the terms of the Snyder family trusts, the dynasty had been preserved. The Snyder family saga that had been marked by tragedy and heartbreak had its own seemingly happy ending. There was a new generation of direct blood heirs in line to inherit the In-N-Out empire. As usual, however, the burger chain had no comment.

  On Tuesday, April 22, 2008, In-N-Out finally made it to Washington City, Utah. The new store was the chain’s first move into a new state since its first Arizona opening eight years earlier and store number 215. Excitement was high, especially since word first spread in 2004 that In-N-Out was coming to Utah. Anticipation reached a fevered pitch two years later when Chadder’s opened in American Fork and In-N-Out took the look-alike burger joint to court.

  A number of fans drove by the spot on 832 West Telegraph while it was under construction waiting for word about just when the chain would actually open for business. It came just one day before the opening; a simple sign was put out on the spot. The line formed early. By the time of its 10:30 a.m. opening, fans had created a line that wrapped around the parking lot. Two hours later, it extended to the edge of the shopping center next door. The store’s manager and divisional manager stood at the entrance, welcoming guests. Employees at the various adjacent businesses came out of their offices and stores to observe what one described as “a zoo.” Wyona Frazier was one of them. As she put it: “If you haven’t had an In-N-Out burger, you’re missing something.”

  And if you looked closely, you might have seen that In-N-Out’s yellow arrow appeared to be pointing east.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  I wish to thank the many people who aided, encouraged, and sustained me during the writing of this book. At the top, I am greatly indebted to Kit Rachlis along with Karen Wada, who first let me explore In-N-Out Burger and the Snyder family on the pages of Los Angeles magazine.

  The narrative account of this book is based on the nearly one hundred interviews that I conducted over the course of more than two years (in person, by telephone, and by e-mail), as well as research culled from thousands of pages of legal documents, oral histories, newspaper and magazine articles, archival and other documents, and photographs, books, and home movies and video recordings. (Among the many sources cited, I would like to single out John A. Jakle and Keith A. Sculle’s Fast Food, John F. Love’s McDonald’s: Behind the Arches, and Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation.) In many instances, I returned to several individuals repeatedly for clarification—they all exhibited tremendous kindness and patience when it came to my queries.

  During the course of writing this book, I made several approaches to In-N-Out Burger requesting their participation; however, they declined to cooperate. My immense appreciation goes to those individuals named and unnamed who shared their time and perceptive memories concerning Baldwin Park, In-N-Out Burger, and the Snyder family. In particular, I wish to thank Christina Snyder Wright, Kathy Touché, and the indispensable James Berger III.

  The Baldwin Park Historical Society allowed me access to a wealth of material, including the two-volume Heritage of Baldwin Park, compiled lovingly by Aileen Pinheiro. Robert Benbow, president of the society, gave generously of his time and memories and made himself available to answer my questions time and time again. John Coleman, president of the Bond County Historical Society, kindly exhumed valuable books and documents that helped me piece together Esther Snyder’s early years and the history of the tiny coal mining town where she was born.

  The indefatigable Lois Gilman unearthed a trove of information that edified the early history of the Johnson and Snyder families. I don’t know anyone with a better nose for scrupulously ferreting out the most arcane and yet significant research sources. She tracked down and helped me plow through U.S. Census Bureau documents; genealogical material; naturalization, immigration, and military records; and other public archives. Every writer should have a Lois Gilman in her corner. Bill Saporito cast a critical eye to early versions of my manuscript and offered his insightful counsel that went a long way in sharpening the final book.

  The many dedicated librarians at the Los Angeles Central Public Library, as well as those at the West Covina, San Gabriel, and Baldwin Park branches, were an unending source of assistance and information. They hunted down documents regarding the postwar years of their cities that were most helpful. Marilyn Williams at the Bonita High School Library uncovered the school’s yearbooks when Guy and Rich Snyder were students. Morgan Yates, the archivist at the Southern California Automobile Association of America provided me with piles of information on cars, the highway system, and their role in shaping Southern California. The U.S. Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C., and Rear Admiral (ret.) Jim Miller helped to outline Esther’s years in the navy in general and her duty as a WAVES in particular. Ron Paul and his team at Technomic Inc. provided me with historical data about the fast-food industry as well as estimates on In-N-Out Burger over time.

  At Carl Karcher Enterprises, Anne Hallock and Peggy Burgeson arranged an interview with Carl Karcher at his Anaheim headquarters on February 27, 2007. At the time of our meeting, Karcher was ninety years old, suffering from Parkinson’s, and grieving over the passing of his wife, Margaret, who had died just six months earlier. Karcher’s daughter Barbara Wall accompanied her father and helped convene the interview, gleaning insight into some of his comments and history. Mr. Karcher was a fast-food legend himself and a great friend of Harry and Esther Snyder, I am grateful that he took the time to share some of his memories and thoughts, although it was obviously difficult for him. Karcher died eleven months after our interview on January 11, 2008. I feel fortunate to have met him.

  A tip of the hat to the countless In-N-Out associates up and down California and Nevada who cooked up and served my off-menu preference, Grilled Cheese Animal Style, never getting it wrong and always with a smile. I also wish to thank the helpful associates on the opposite end of In-N-Out’s toll-free number, who cheerily and patiently fielded my many questions even if they didn’t quite understand why.

  I am extremely grateful to my agent Michelle Tessler, who quickly saw
the potential of this story as a book and tenaciously pursued it. At HarperCollins, Genoveva Llosa, got the ball rolling; her thoughts and suggestions remained a crucial component of the final DNA of this book. Picking up the baton was Ben Steinberg, who provided me with an abundance of enthusiasm, patience, and smarts, qualities any writer should hope for in an editor and that Ben has in spades. Rounding out the fantastic team at HarperCollins: Beth Silfin, Nancy Tan, Emily Dettmer, and Carol Holmes.

  John Byrne, Martin Keohan, and particularly Nick Leiber, graciously, allowed me the flexibility, space, and time to pursue the In-N-Out story while still working at Business Week. At the magazine, Karyn McCormack offered large doses of encouragement and Matt Vella made sure that I didn’t get lost on my reporting trips with a state-of-the-art GPS system.

  Emerging from the end of the light of my laptop was a host of friends. In particular, Mary and Peter Vassallo provided a refuge of friendship and much needed breaks along the way. My dear friend Sue Ruopp brought the usual good cheer and as ever lent an ear with humor. Duke Sherman, my friend and a huge In-N-Out fan, supplied me with enthusiasm, companionship, and anecdotes on the long burger highway between Los Angeles and Las Vegas and beyond. Gerry and Nessa Perman unstintingly offered me familial ballast.

  Of course, before the book, there was the burger. My initial introduction to In-N-Out came courtesy of the first Double-Double fan I can remember, my late father, Leonard Perman. As a child, we hopped in his car and drove to store number eighteen in Woodland Hills, California. The drive-through was more than six miles from home, and it was always worth the trip.

  NOTES

  PROLOGUE

  “a local newspaper had once described its”: Christie Smythe, “Deserted Core of El Con Mall May Be Razed,” Arizona Daily Star, September 23, 2007.

  “If you actually drove by the place today,”: Matt Dinniman, blog post, http://shiveredsky.blogspot.com/2007_04_01_archive.html.

  “There are so many people excited about these stores coming to town,”: http://www.barbaralasky.com/tucson-real-estate-blog/tucson-living/tucson-in-n-outs-coming -to-town-twice/.

  “Phil Villarreal, a reporter for the Arizona Daily Star, recalled”: Phil Villarreal, et al., “We Got the Urge,” Arizona Daily Star, April 26, 2007.

  “This is not something that happened overnight.”: Christie Smythe, “In-N-Out’s Tucson Debut Worth the Wait, Burger Fans Say,” Arizona Daily Star, April 24, 2007.

  “At nearly 10:00 p.m., there were still over one hundred cars in the drive-through lane.”: Phil Villarreal, “We Got the Urge,” Arizona Daily Star, April 26, 2007.

  “The company temporarily opened a mobile kitchen on-site to help with the constant demand.”: Christie Smythe, “Hot Spot Still In with the In-N-Out Crowd,” Arizona Daily Star, May 24, 2007.

  “In-N-Out had already sent in a team of about forty veteran employees”: Joe Pangburn, “In-N-Out Burger’s All-Stars Set Record with Tucson Opening,” Inside Tucson Business, June 19, 2007.

  “One customer, Judi Esposito,”: Christie Smythe, “In-N-Out’s Tucson Debut Worth the Wait, Burger Fans Say,” Arizona Daily Star, April 24, 2007.

  “The Tucson opening was In-N-Out’s busiest to date.”: Joe Pangburn, “In-N-Out Burger’s All-Stars Set Record with Tucson Opening,” Inside Tucson Business, June 19, 2007.

  “Big news for Marana today.”: Todd Kunz, “Marana Area Businesses Booming,” KVOA, November 15, 2007.

  “the Marana police set up a command center near the shop”: Ibid.

  “Half a dozen people staked out places near the front doors”: “Fewer Steer to 2nd In-N-Out Burger Opening,” Tucson Citizen, November 15, 2007.

  “When Jonathan Kaye won the tournament”: T. J. Auclar, “18 Holes With…” http://www.pga.com, February 2, 2006.

  “‘It was crazy,’ Greg Wolf, the course’s head professional, later exclaimed.”: Ibid.

  “The first thing I am most familiar with is In-N-Out Burger,”: Troy Smith press conference, as reported in Doug Lesmerises, “Smith…mmmm In-N-Out Burger,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, January 4, 2007.

  “Rocker Courtney Love reportedly insisted”: Karen von Hahn, “Noticed Burger Cult,” Globe & Mail, March 27, 2004.

  “A year earlier, Julia Child”: Stacy Perman, “Fat Burger,” Los Angeles, February 2004.

  “During the 2004 NBA finals”: Office of the Governor of California, Gov. Schwarzenegger and Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm Place Friendly Wager Over NBA Finals Outcome, June 3, 2004.

  “Singer Beyoncé Knowles admitted to making”: Reagan Alexander, Carrie Bell, Jed Dveben, et al., “Caught in the Act: The Oscar After Parties,” http://www.people.com, February 27, 2007.

  “When discussing his favorite places to dine in Los Angeles”: Mark Seal, “I Would Tell You…But Then I’d Have to Kill You,” American Way, August 1, 2008.

  “Tom Hanks rented”: Amy Wallace, “Average Joe Versus the Icons,” Los Angeles Times, November 7, 1999.

  “What’s so hip about a hamburger chain?”: Patrick McGeehan, “Red Carpet Leads to the Drive-Thru,” New York Times, March 7, 2004.

  CHAPTER 1

  “At eight-thirty on a chilly grey morning in April 1906,”: United States Department of Immigration, Lists of Passengers or Manifest of Aliens Seeking Admission to the US from Foreign Contiguous Territory Port of Vancouver, April 8, 1906, Sept 24, 1915. Note that in census bureau data, the arrival date is listed variously as 1904, 1905, and 1906; according to SS Laurentian historical data, likely date of departure was 1906.

  “A brochure from the era proclaimed”: The Allan Line, “Illustrated Tourists Guide to Canada and the United States circa 1880”; copy can be found at http://ist. uwaterloo.ca/~marj/genealogy/allantour.html.

  “At the turn of the century when Snyder père departed Amsterdam,”: For more on the history of Amsterdam, see J. C. H. Blom and Emiel Lamberts, History of the Low Countries (Oxford: Berghahn Books, 2006); Jonathan Irvine Israel, The Dutch Republic: Its Rise, Greatness and Fall, 1477–1806 (Gloucestershire, U.K.: Clarendon Press, 1995).

  “many European immigrants who were pouring”: The Canadian government took out full-page ads in British, American, and European newspapers to encourage immigration between 1896 to 1914; copies can be found at http://www.thelastbestwest.com/last_best_west.htm as well as at the Canadian Museum of Civilization, http://www.civilization.ca/visit/indexe.aspx.

  “After landing in Nova Scotia”: U.S. Census Bureau records and Lists of Passengers or Manifest of Aliens Seeking Admission to the US from Foreign Contiguous Territory Port of Vancouver, April 8, 1906.

  “in 1909, Hendrick married Mary”: U.S. Census Bureau records.

  “Mary’s mother reputedly came from”: Snyder family home movie; Harry Snyder, interview by Rich Snyder, circa early 1970s.

  “Over the next several years, Mary followed her husband”: Ibid.; U.S. Census Bureau records 1910 and 1930; Manifest of Alien Passengers Seeking Admission to the US from Foreign Contiguous Territories, September 24, 1915.

  “while living in Seattle, Mary gave birth”: U.S. Census Bureau records 1910 and 1920.

  “When World War I broke out in 1914,”: Snyder family home movie; Harry Snyder, interview by Rich Snyder, circa early 1970s.

  “On September 24, 1915, when Harry fils”: According to immigration records, Hendrick carried one hundred dollars in his pocket. Manifest of Alien Passengers Seeking for Admission to the US from Foreign Contiguous Territories, September 24, 1915.

  “By today’s standards, the house wasn’t much,”: Snyder family home movie; Harry Snyder, interview by Rich Snyder, circa early 1970s.

  “A census taker at the time”: U.S. Census Bureau data 1910.

  “in reality, the couple had learned”: Snyder family home movie; Harry Snyder, interview by Rich Snyder, circa early 1970s.

  “When the Snyders settled in Seattle,”: For more on early-twentieth-century Seattle, see Clarence Bagely, History of Seattle from Earliest Settlement to Present
Time, vol. 2 (Chicago: The S.J. Clark Publishing Company, 1916); Norbert MacDonald, Distant Neighbors: A Comparative History of Seattle and Vancouver (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1987).

  “He had some crazy ideas,”: Snyder family home movie; Harry Snyder, interview by Rich Snyder, circa early 1970s.

  “He didn’t believe anybody should be wealthy.”: Ibid.

  “Ma never had much to say,”: Ibid.

  “I don’t think you could find a better painter,”: Ibid.

  “We stood and watched the animals come off,”: Ibid.

  “When he left Seattle, he owed everybody and their brother money,”: Ibid.

  “In 1922, when Harry Snyder was nine years old,”: Ibid.

  “The Snyders landed in a one-bedroom house”: Ibid.; U.S. Census Bureau data 1930.

  “During this time, the Douglas Aircraft Company”: For more on the history of Santa Monica, see Fred E. Basten, Santa Monica Bay: The First 100 Years: A Pictorial History of Santa Monica, Venice, Ocean Park, Pacific Palisades, Topanga and Malibu (Los Angeles: Douglas-West Publishers, 1974); Louise B. Gabriel and the Santa Monica Historical Society Museum, Early Santa Monica (Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Publishing, 2006).

  “By the end of the decade, the population”: U.S. Census Bureau data for years 1920 and 1930, published by the City of Santa Monica.

  “Hendrick took a series of painting jobs”: Snyder family home movie; Harry Snyder, interview by Rich Snyder, circa early 1970s.

  “When Harry was thirteen, his father landed in jail”: Ibid.