1 Colonization and Settlement (1500-1763), 2 Revolution and Early Republic (1754-1801), 4 Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877), 5 Emergence of Modern America (1877-1929), 4 Late Middle Ages-Renaissance-Reformation Europe (1300-1648), 3 Post-Classical History (600 CE-1492 CE), HS 1302 United States History since 1877, SP 3392 Language Variation and Dialectology of Spanish, Dom DiFurio and Oria McCaffrey, Whataburgers founding family sells controlling stake in iconic Texas chain,, College of Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences. ), When most Whataburger customers walk into the restaurant, they have no idea if the place they are eating at is a franchise or a corporate-owned branch. My name is Courtney Pena and I am from McAllen, Texas. To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer. Growing up during the onset of the Great Depression, the Dobson family had few resources, but plenty of food at a time when food meant everything. The struggles that Dobson endured building such an important food chain are inspiring. H-E-Bs True Texas BBQ Restaurant Is Slipping, West Texans Are Learning What It Means to Live in Bear Country. Since his businesses were now at different locations, Harmon figured it was wise to visit them by plane. 10 Infamous US Plane Crashes | Smithsonian Channel - YouTube August 10, 1950- I came to Corpus Wed. Paul finally opened Tuesday [August 8] $50 first day, $79 yesterday & $62 today. Are you sure that you want to delete this memorial? Together, they raised three children: Hugh, Lynne and Tom. The location of the first Whataburger was 2609 Ayers Street, across from Del Mar College in Corpus Christi. This is a terrible time to risk messing with the Whataburger brand. Always thinking bigger, the moment Whataburger began, Dobson and Burton were already seeking a possible second location in Houston. The purpose of this is to explore expansion plans in the northern area of the United States while staying true to the brands message.15 Some of the brand messages can be found in The Whataburger Difference. The Whataburger Difference is what separates the company from every other competitor that they have and one of the five points of focus is to protect and serve the best products in the industry.16 With this said, hopefully Texans will stay true to the family brand as changes occur, which would surely make Dobson proud of how his company has grown. One part of this strategy, the lawsuit contends, is to buy out franchisees with an eye toward taking the company public; gaining greater control over its franchise operations could provide greater value to future shareholders. He had $2500 to invest in the right deal involving oil, and eventually, he became partners with Henry Mode on an oil lease in Loving County, Texas.2 Yet, this investment did not lead to success. The Alice franchise was a quick success, and over the decades Whataburger and the Andrews familys company, Whataburger of Alice (WOA), grew in tandem. She was infuriated that people were telling her to sell off her husbands dream and just enjoy the money. On August 8, 2000, Whataburger proudly celebrated its 50th anniversary with 575 restaurants in operation and millions of fans all over the country. The lawsuit, filed in San Antonio in March, traces the roots of the dispute to the earliest days of the Whataburger chain, which Dobson founded in 1950 after stints in shipbuilding, oil drilling, and diamond trading. According to the lawsuit, Reese met with Atkinson, who told her that despite the agreement, Whataburger didnt believe it was obligated to approve new sites and that it could veto any sites that the franchisee selected. This attention to detail likely led to Whataburger receiving $50 in purchases on their first day.5. My name is Courtney Pena and I am from McAllen, Texas. Dobson wrote about this difficulty in his journal: Late May, 1950- Landed back in Midland April 21 to find that Henry Mode, my oil partner, had begun drinking again. Dobson then bounced around a lot after that work on the Suez Canal in Egypt, and then in Bahrain where he was in charge of a construction of a mess hall. So, he brought along Johnny Sneed, who was working with a Whataburger franchise in Victoria, Texas. In a short time, Dobson had an impressive business. Please contact Find a Grave at [emailprotected] if you need help resetting your password. Also, Whataburger expanded to places such as Las Vegas and Memphis, where the company was unknown, leading to a lack of customers purchasing food. Harmon Dobson died in a plane crash in 1967, and his widow, Grace (whose first date with Harmon was at Whataburger #3, in Corpus), ran things until the first outsider, Jim Peterson, took over in the early seventies. This account has been disabled. The war was over, and his adventure had ended. For memorials with more than one photo, additional photos will appear here or on the photos tab. Whatalife: Harmon Dobson, the Founder of Whataburger His friend and associate, Andrew Sneed was also killed. Our History: The Whataburger Story By the company's seventh decade, Whataburger had grown from a single burger stand in Corpus Christi to an 800-restaurant chain that spanned every state from Arizona to Florida. Everyone expected Grace, now twice widowed, to crumble, and they encouraged her to sell Whataburger. Harmon Archibald Dobson (October 8, 1913 - April 11, 1967) [1] was an American entrepreneur best known as one of the founders of the fast food chain Whataburger. The pragmatic Lady Grace rolled up her sleeves and got to work, teaching her children the family business along the way. And You Thought Feral Hogs Were Bad. They werent in a hurry to expand, and they rarely if ever expanded outside their comfort zone and their target market.. Harmon Dobson was born in 1913 in Wayne, Oklahoma, to Hugh and Ethel Dobson. All photos appear on this tab and here you can update the sort order of photos on memorials you manage. . August 10, 1950- I came to Corpus Wed. Paul finally opened Tuesday [August 8] $50 first day, $79 yesterday & $62 today. No animated GIFs, photos with additional graphics (borders, embellishments. He wanted this burgers to be so delicious that it would make a person yell, What a burger! This inspired the naming of his company. Most people thought Grace Dobson would sell her rapidly growing hamburger business after her husband died in a private plane crash in 1967. . You are only allowed to leave one flower per day for any given memorial. In 1953 , Joe Andrews received the first Whataburger franchise, and business was booming. Lady Grace and the Whataburger Legend - Texasliving January 1, 1950- I think this will be an eventful year for me.1. Today, our founder's original vision still inspires everything we do. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. After hearing from a friend in Houston that Texas was teeming with both cars and oil, Dobson, whose business ventures now had him traveling halfway across the U.S., purchased a private plane and learned to fly it. Search above to list available cemeteries. The Dobson family and their extended Whataburger family rallied around and supported Grace as she took over the business. Neither Whataburger nor Whataburger of Alice would be what it is today without the other. Following that, he worked at the New York Shipbuilding Company, which, at the time, was the worlds largest boat-builder for the U.S. Navy. A few weeks after the funeral, Grace visited Dobson in Corpus Christi, and they had their first date at Whataburger. To plant trees in memory, please visit the. Dobson later was hired to help build a naval base where he worked on building radio towers, tanks and hangars. They really caught on early to the adage that pioneers get slaughtered and settlers get the land, he says. He flew to Texas to scout out the oil and auto possibilities in places like Witchita Falls, Dallas, and Houston. This, I believe, will turn out to be a very profitable investment, which is something up until May 1, I was very unaccustomed.3, Dobson aimed to make a better burger a burger so good that it would require two hands to hold it. All three work hard to ensure that Whataburger never strays from their fathers original concept, which was to serve hungry people great food in a clean and friendly environment. This is a great article and very informative! Numbers went from 600 to 950 burgers per day.10, August 4, 1951- Proud to be the beginning of what may be a lifelong business. Before the Whataburger, the typical burger was a White Castle slider, a two-ounce beef patty on a 2-inch bun. Whataburger, which saw San Antonio as a key growth market, filed suit to block the sale. Dobson faced financial challenges. harmon dobson plane crash. The next year, we awarded more than $90 million in bonuses to our Family Members (what we call our employees) in thanks for their extraordinary service during the pandemic. Man dies after crashing his plane near U.S. 40. Fowler died after the Harmon Rocket plane he was piloting went down in a field northwest of Thorsby, Alta., on Saturday afternoon. Whataburger had commissioned the "Flying W" company logo and had expanded to 40 locations in four states. The '70s was a decade of Whataburger milestones. The burgers were always cooked exactly how the customer wanted them to be. In 1956 and 1957, respectively, they had a daughter named Mary Lynne and a son named Hugh Carlton. The burgers sold back then are the same as the original Whataburger that many Texans still love to today. In 1953, Joe Andrews Sr. became the first franchise owner that was not one of the original founders, with a location in Alice, Texas. Im glad to read that Tom Dobson, his son, was able to continue the legacy that was left by his father. Wikipedia. The new CEO and president of Whataburger was Tom Dobson, the son of Harmon and Grace Dobson. If youre in charge of handling the affairs for a recently deceased loved one, this guide offers a helpful checklist. The burgers sold back then are the same as the original Whataburger that many Texans still love to today. Whataburgers affairs were more and more being turned over to the professionals, all of whom wanted to participate in what by now had ceased to be a family business and had become simply a large corporate entity, WOA claims in its lawsuit. At first, Harmon was content to help his parents on the farm, but his wanderlust eventually returned, calling him elsewhere. By the late eighties the company had begun to lose its way. Harmon Archibald Dobson [1] was an American entrepreneur best known as one of the founders of the fast food chain Whataburger. Its hard to ignore a burger that makes you say What a Burger!. We still greet our customers with a smile 24 hours a day, seven days a week. how privileged we are to have been in a partnership with you for this long.. Little did he know that he was going to be the founder of an epic fast food restaurant. He kicked off New Year's Day 1950 with a. List of fatalities from aviation accidents - Wikipedia "I considered myself lucky to be a friend of Grace. Whatabusiness! - Texas Monthly The plane went up 100 feet off the runway and came straight back down. [7], In his will, Dobson left the company to his wife, Grace Dobson, who at the time was encouraged to sell the company. If you have questions, please contact [emailprotected]. He realized that he needed some creative marketing strategies to obtain new customers. Yet despite its success, Whataburgers history has included some setbacks. September 23, 1952- I never expected anything like this. Harmon Dobson, a "young entrepreneur" who made his start in life shipbuilding, oil drilling and diamond training, was the man behind the burgers. But in April of that year, a plane accident cut short Harmon's life, leaving her with three . Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account. Tom officially took over Whataburger in 1993 and is still company chairman today. The meeting between Pierce and the rich soil of the coastal plains of Texas might have been destiny. The All-Time Favorites menu, featuring four of the most loved specialty sandwiches from over the years, made its debut and was greeted enthusiastically by Whataburger fans. You can customize the cemeteries you volunteer for by selecting or deselecting below. There was a problem getting your location. More than seven decades ago, an adventurous and determined entrepreneur named Harmon Dobson had a bold idea: to serve a burger so big that it took two hands to hold, and so good that after a single bite customers couldn't help but exclaim, What a burger! He named his humble burger stand, located on Ayers Street in Corpus Christi, Texas, Whataburger.. We will review the memorials and decide if they should be merged. This was interesting article especially since it was about a burger that is highly famous here in Texas. Boasting 6,000 square feet, stunning water views and a life-size bronze likeness of Harmon Dobson, this flagship restaurant is a fitting tribute to an amazing man. Its not surprising that people might want a bigger piece of that pie.. He realized that he needed some creative marketing strategies to obtain new customers. Whataburger was becoming what Dobson always knew it could, and his family was happy and successful. But perhaps because his dear friend Harmon Dobson was gone, his personal connection no longer seemed to mean as much as it once did. However, if one thinks about it, if it were not for this incident, Dobson would not have gone down the road that he did to finance Whataburger. Harmon never lived to see his shack become a regional burger empire; he died in a plane crash in 1967. . Mary Lynne and Hugh are both members of the board of directors. Harmon Archibald Dobson (October 8, 1913 April 11, 1967)[1] was an American entrepreneur best known as one of the founders of the fast food chain Whataburger. Resend Activation Email, Please check the I'm not a robot checkbox, If you want to be a Photo Volunteer you must enter a ZIP Code or select your location on the map. In our eighth decade, we entered new markets including Kansas City, Nashville, and Colorado Springs, expanding our restaurant footprint to 14 states. Treating our customers right. "But through all of their giving and the charitable things that they did for the community and the state of Texas it glowed down on her anyway. This tiny burger stand offered something people had never seen: a burger that was so big, they had to hold its five-inch bun with two hands. The airplane operated on a flight from Stephenville-Ernest Harmon AFB, NL (YJT) to Terceira-Lajes AFB, Azores (TER).
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