Scope and Content
The addendum number one to the White Castle System, Inc. Records comprises four cubic feet of materials dating from 1931 to 1992, though most of the materials date from the 1950s through the 1980s. This addendum contains additional records consistent with the fourteen record series found within the original collection, along with two new record series: White Castle Distributing, Inc. records, and miscellaneous oversized items. As in the original collection, the records series within this addendum are arranged in alphabetical order by series title, with the exception of the miscellaneous oversized items (Series XVI).
Series I, Advertising/Marketing Department Files, contains thirty-eight advertising posters for White Castle products and services. Most of the posters are undated, but seem to be consistent with the 1930s and 1940s dates found on some of the posters. A listing of the wording on the posters is found in the collection inventory. The series also contains additional bag stuffers and flyers, along with the records of a corporate sponsored public contest, a marketing program from the 1960s, and two reports on sales and marketing from the 1980s.
Series II, Employee Records, contains numerous company booklets, dating from the 1940s to the 1980s, published on either corporate benefits or an employee's introduction to the company. The series also contains 1950 through 1990 records of the corporate pension trust agreements with employees, along with a substantial file on the employee suggestion system of the 1960s.
Series IV, Financial and Sales records, contains a brief, undated, report on converting the company to a semi-public corporation, along with additional 1960s sales statistics.
Series VI, Location/History Files for Restaurants, consists of a small file of correspondence from the 1930s concerning the (at the time) new corporate headquarters in Columbus, Ohio, along with an undated floor plan for part of the building. The series also contains some information on the company bakery located in Evendale, New Jersey.
Series VII, Managers' Meeting Minutes, contains the minutes of the 1975 and 1986 meetings not found within the original collection. The series also contains minutes of two special meetings of the company's Board of Directors, dated 1955 and 1965, pertaining to various plans for construction of new restaurants and plants, and the remodeling and improvements to existing company sites.
Series VIII, Meat Records, consists of one folder of weekly announcements, dated 1982 to 1987, from corporate headquarters to area managers on the change in the price of the meat for White Castle hamburgers supplied by various meat packing companies.
Series IX, Newsletters, Manuals, and Handbooks, contains a copy of a company newsletter, "White Castle PAC Facs," and four company manuals not found in the original collection. The series also contains manuals for three slide presentations used for employee training, and a series of company compiled indexes to the White Castle House Organ.
Series XII, Porcelain Steel Building Company Records, contains a small file on an undated company program to control employee absenteeism; a company organizational chart for 1973; a chart for equipment in company Castles; and a series of records pertaining to the building of six Castles in the St. Louis area during 1949 and 1950.
Series XIII, Subject Files, contains three notebooks of materials, mostly recipes and formulas, from the company's Evandale Bakery; various cards pertaining to dinnerware orders from the Mayer China Company; and some information on White Castle's successful lawsuit against the White Tower company over trade and copyrights during the 1930s.
Series XV, White Castle Distributing, Inc. records, consists of various materials pertaining to a corporate subsidiary formed to market and distribute frozen White Castle hamburgers to grocery stores nationwide. Included in the series is some information, dated 1987 to 1992, on a consumer response program, three surveys of consumers living in western states, and files on distributors and expansion. The series also contains a general file consisting of company correspondence, memorandum, minutes of business meetings, and sales figures; a file of press releases; information on a marketing promotion in San Jose, California; and two studies on frozen hamburger sales.
Series XVI, Miscellaneous Oversized Items, contains materials too large to house in conventional archival boxes. These items include art work, photographs, an architectural rendering, and a copy of a newspaper advertisement. A detailed listing of these items is found in the collection inventory.