We have pretty much always ran PSA group vans. Primarily Citroen Dispatches, and last year we added a Vauxhall Vivaro, same van, different badge. The Vauxhall was the LWB version which came in handy when transporting our gourmet burger units.
To be fair, they have been pretty reliable. Normally we swapped the oldest one in each year. Covid, mucked the system up, and we found ourselves needing three new vans.
Originally in 2021 we ordered a new Dispatch. It was going to be delivered for September. Then October, November December, January, and finally some time after March. At that point we cancelled it.
That turned out to be a mistake, since between ordering and cancelling it, the price had gone up some four grand, and the spec had been cut in half.
Everywhere we looked, they were quoting, pretty much indeterminate delivery times. Eventually I happened on a garage with a Vauxhall Vivaro, still at a reasonable spec, but a lot more expensive then we had been paying for vans. We added that to the fleet last March.
Vauxhall Vivaro
Vauxhall Vivaro
Roll around 2023 and the decision was made that we needed another two vans. Queue a look around our usual suppliers. What we found was that they had gone up another four grand since last year, while simultaneously the spec was cut again. So in effect, we would be paying more per van than the top of the range versions had been a couple of years ago. And for our money we would be getting something not much above the minimum spec.
Enter Nissan Primastar
To be honest, the cut in spec pissed me off as much as the jump in price, so I decided that maybe it was time to look around. Now that isn’t as easy as it sounds. Citroen, Peugeot, Fiat, Toyota and Vauxhall are all the same van. We hired a couple of Ford Custom’s one Christmas, and everyone refused to drive them, the handling was that poor. My experience with Mercedes vans, is that if you drive through a puddle of water they start to fall apart with rust within the week. VW transporters were liked, but just too bloody expensive for what you got.
Eventually we turned up at Nissan. The vans were a nice drive, slightly larger inside both the load area and the cabin than our previous vans which was a plus. Similar on fuel economy. Came with a shorter service interval than Citroen which is a bit crap, but were twenty per cent cheaper and came with a top of the range spec. they didn’t come with twin side loading doors as standard, but it was an option for only £280. So overall we decided to give them a chance and ordered two.
Growing up in the North East, Wimpys was THE burger place. As a kid growing up in the early 80’s McDonalds and Burger King hadn’t reached the North East at that time, and you wanted a burger, you went to Wimpy.
Named after the character of J.Wellington Wimpy in the Popeye cartoons, the chain was founded in Bloomington Indiana by Edward Gold in 1934.
By 1947 the chain had grown to 26 outlets spread across the midwest, with the Chicago tribune estimating the group was expecting to sell some 8 million burgers annually in the Chicago area.
Wimpy was a bit of an outlier in American burger chains. At its peak it was estimated to have 26 units in its homeland. But across the rest of the world it peaked at 1500 outlets.
It’s first foreign venture came in 1954 when Gold sold a licence to J. Lyons and Co. to open stores across the UK. In 1957 a joint venture was formed with Lyons to market Wimpy across the rest of the globe. This lasted until 2007 when Wimpy UK became a subsidiary of the South African group Famous Brands International. They took over the worldwide franchising arrangements directly from their base in South Africa.
The first UK Wimpy was in Lyons Corner House in Coventry Street London. The Wimpy was so successful that it soon led to the establishment of stand alone Wimpys serving only a range of burger meals. They differed to the later chains such as McDonalds, in that they were more like a typical diner with table service rather than serving across the counter.
Lyons Corner House
One peculiarity of the chain, was that in the 1970’s entry was refused to unaccompanied woman after midnight, based on the assumption that they could be prostitutes.
1978 saw the debut of Mr Wimpy, the promotional character in his beefeater outfit.
Mr Wimpy
McDonalds And Into A Decline
By the end of the 80’s McDonalds had gained a firm toehold in the UK, and the chain was starting to decline. McDonalds over the counter fast service found favour, and Wimpy had to start altering its operating methods in an attempt to remain relevant.
In 1989 the business was purchased by Grand Metropolitan, (now Diagio) who also owned Burger King. Many of the Wimpy outlets were converted to Burger Kings as the new owners felt the BK had greater international recognition.
Currently there are some 67 Wimpys still in operation in the UK. Many in seaside resorts, or other smaller towns such as Huddersfield, many in more low rent locations, a far cry from their heyday on the high street.
Wimpy Triple
Wimpy Triple
Wimpy’s flagship burger. A triple pattie, but topping out at 864 calories. Positively anorexic compared to some of the burgers on offer in America.
South Africa
The chain has its greatest presence in South Africa where there are still 453 outlets. There they are themed more along the American Diner retro style.
Like many 80’s kids I remember the Wimpy fondly. A couple of years ago I chanced upon one on a job, and decided to try a quarter pounder. It was fabulous, and far superior to the other American offerings in the UK.
This time we leave the good ole US of A, and take a look at a chain of burger joints hailing from Belgium. I must admit a soft spot for these as on honeymoon, when we didn’t have a lot of disposable income, we frequented Quicks burgers as the most affordable eatery whilst we were in France and Belgium.
It is also nice seeing a different take in the actors and models used for the advertisements. Whereas the Americans have everyone looking like they have just stepped off a catwalk. Quicks use people that look more like, well people. Check out the welcome video on the homepage, love the part where one guy whips his wig off to reveal he is bald, whilst the other one is eating with his mouth open and full of lettuce.
The chain began life in 1971 when Baron Vaxelaire opened two restaurants in Antwerp and Waterloo. 30 years later it had grown to over 400 stores in France, Belgium, Luxembourg and a number of French overseas territories.
To be honest, the chain doesn’t really do anything outstanding or unique, but it just makes a nice counterpoint to the overload of American chains. Having tasted them I can attest to the fact that their burgers do taste a helluva lot better than your typical McDonalds fare.
Mega Giant
Mega Giant, The Flagship Of Quicks Burgers
All in all, a nice, profitable if rather bland entry into our series of burger joints.
Happy National Pretzel day everyone. Another of our popular lines has a day dedicated to it. Once again by the Americans, boy they sure love their food.
Like many things in life, the origins of the pretzel are a little unclear. Its reputed that they were invented by Italian monks to reward the children who had learnt their prayers around 610 AD.
Another source puts the invention in a southern France monastery. The looped pretzel could also be related to the Greek Ring bread from the communion bread used by monks a thousand years ago. The Catholic Church bestowed pretzels with a religious significance for both ingredients and their shape.
Soft Dough Or Crunchy
There are two distinct types of pretzels. The traditional large soft dough pretzel. Very bread like and served with salt or cinnamon.
pretzels
There is also hard snack pretzels. These are crunchy bite sized pretzels. The same shape as their larger dough counterparts (or indeed available as sticks), but more like a crisp or biscuit. Sometimes these are served covered in chocolate, and they tend to come in a variety of flavours.
Hard Biscuit Pretzels
Whichever pretzel floats your boat, we can provide a range of Pretzel serving carts to serve them to your guests or colleagues to help celebrate national pretzel day.
Soft Dough Pretzel Machine
We serve our soft dough pretzels in our warmer/humidifier. This keeps them at both the correct temperature, and nice and moist. Served with salt and cinnamon, and also a range of spices to help add some flavour. Celebrate national pretzel day with gorgeous dough pretzels.
In the past when we specialised in ‘Fun Food’ such as candy floss, doughnuts etc. We usually had it in our contract that the client was to provide power. This worked great for single items.
However as we moved into bigger catering jobs such as gourmet burgers, the discussion would go like this.
“We need four individual 13 amp power supplies”,
Client “No problem”
On arrival we would be handed a 6 way multiplug, which connected to a single 13 amp socket, and then told that the other two connections were for the pizza van and DJ. So all in all they were trying to run some 60 amps from a 13 amp connection.
The predictable result was that we spent most of the night trying to find some way to actual power our kit up.
The Move To L.P.G.
Or to give it its full title, liquid petroleum gas. We bought in a considerable amount of kit that could be powered from portable gas bottles. An added benefit was that many of them actually cooked faster than their electrical equivalents.
The downside was that many health and safety officers don’t like gas. So many venues we were banned from using it and back to the original problem.
We already had a small 30 amp generator that we used occasionally, but for some of the larger events, this was nowhere near enough.
10kva-Generator
The Answer, More Power
It was decided that we needed to move up a class in generator systems. We looked at some new builds from a company in Peterborough. We worked out that we needed probably a 30kva set. So we decided to go for a 63kva.
The thinking behind this was that buying what we need did not give us any room for future growth. So 63 gave us some breathing space. Additionally the larger set was only some £800 more expensive, was no bigger physically, and used the same engine so should have similar running costs.
Making It Portable
We acquired a set of axles for it, and asked our friends at Fairtech Fabrications to put a trailer system together for us so that it was road transportable.
Being Mounted
They fabricated a simple two axle trailer and mounted the unit for us, giving us flexibility to power anything we are going to run in the next couple of years at least. We could probably do with a mid sized generator system, something in the 25kva range perhaps, but that is for a future project.
Finishing Touches
Once we had it mounted, we adding some basic branding with our new Crazy & Co. logo, and storage facilities for cable adaptors etc, along with a detachable fire extinguisher, just in case.
Next up in our series of burger joints, is another American offering. The aptly names Fatburger, motto “The Last Great Hamburger Stand” .
Originally called Mr Fatburger, it was started by Lovie Yancey and her husband. When the couple split up, Yancey dropped the Mr from the name.
Lovie Yancey
It remained pretty much a California based business, until the late 90’s when an expansion project was embarked upon across five Western States in the US, along with Canada, China, Pakistan, UAE and over a dozen other countries.
Fatburger Stand
The chain was built up to 182 stores across the world. With some celebrity owners such as Kanye West, Pharrell and Montel Williams all owning franchises.
XXXL Triple Kingburger
The chain offers the usual burger chain fare of fries, burgers, onion rings and so on. Its top of the range offering is the XXXL Triple Kingburger. A 2050 calorie behemoth that is a heartattack in a bun with a full 1.5 pounds of beef.
XXXL Triple Kingburger
We love burgers as much as the next guy, but really a full pound and a half. The equivalent to six quarterpounders, no wonder the USA has an obesity problem. This burger alone is almost a full days calorie intake no wonder they call them fatburger.
Another in our regular series looking at amusement ride builders throughout the world. The Italian company of Zamperla S.p.A. based in Vicenza, Veneto, is a little different to many of the other big names out there. There range not only encompasses the giant roller coasters of many of their competitors. It also included more funfair orientated travelling rides, again matching others in their market, but they also build a range of tiny coin operated rides. The kind you find in a supermarket or shopping center.
History
Their history dates back over a century, to when, like many ride manufacturers, they were actually operators. Originally travelling an equestrian circus, before becoming one of the first operators of a street cinema in Italy.
Zamperla Cinema
Mr. Antonio Zamperla, founder of the company, realised that many of the larger amusement rides, such as the dodgems, could be recreated in smaller versions for the children. Indeed the ‘Mini Scooters’ or bumper cars for kids was one of their early successful lines. Leading to a host of repackaged attractions for the smaller clients visiting fairs.
Zamperla Mini WheelZamperla Mini Bumper CarsMini Jets
Of course they have a range of adult rides to complement the children’s attractions.
Wave SwingerPirate ShipDiscovery
Arrival Stateside
In 1976, the company arrived in Montreal, before moving to New Jersey to establish a sales office and spare parts warehouse operation.
The company provided some seven, out of the initial 12 rides that were installed in Euro Disney, a feather in the cap by any yardstick.
In 2005 the founder of the company, Mr. Antonio Zamperla, became the first Italian to be inducted into the IAAPA Hall of Fame
Antonio Zamperla
Roller Coasters
The company also boasts an impressive resume in roller coasters. Though they did tend to specialise more in attractions that could be dismantled and travelled. Over the years they have built some 368 coasters and counting.
Gourmet burgers are one of our main lines nowadays. Despite the campaigns for healthier heating, veganism etc, burgers are still massively popular.
Like most people I have made many a visit to the famous American chains over here, namely McDonalds and Burger King. In fact I am old enough to remember when Wimpy was a massive chain, and truth be told, what I remember of them, their burger was better than either of the USA behemoths.
However there are many other chains or ‘burger joints’ in the US of A. Non at the size of the main two, but some pretty big and expanding. Some of the smaller ones are nowhere near in size, but have massive public followings. We are gonna look at a few of these, their history and menu’s.
Our first contender is the quaintly named In-N-Out Burgers. First launched in the Los Angeles suburb of Baldwin Park California by Harry and Esther Snyder in 1948. The original store was tiny, only some 10ft square. Harry would visit the local wholesalers each morning to pick out the freshest ingredients whilst his wife Esther would take care of the administration and bookkeeping.
The beef patties were made by hand fresh every morning, and quality was a watchword for them from the off.
Harry and Esther Snyder
Drive Through
Harry would work in his garage on a night, after long days of cooking burgers. Later in 1948 he put together a two way voice box allowing his customers to order food without even leaving their cars. This focus on drive through was a mainstay of the companies business model. In fact it wasn’t until restaurant No.21 in 1979 that they even had a sit down section to allow guests to consume their food on the premises.
By 1963 they had grown to the extant that they opened their own processing plant for the burgers, up till then Esther had prepared each patty using a hand press.
The Famous Speaker Box
By the time Harry Snyder died in 1976, at the age of 63, the chain had grown to 18 restaurants.
Second Generation
Harry’s son 24-year-old Rich Snyder took the reins after his fathers death and expanded the chain rapidly, building the chain to 90 stores over the next 20 years.
Sadly in 1993 whilst returning from opening store No. 93 in Fresno, California, Rich died along with four other passengers when the light aircraft he was in crashed due to being caught in the wake turbulence of a larger aircraft that landed in front of them.
His brother Guy took over and aggressively expanded the company to over 140 locations in six years before dying from an overdose of painkillers.
Esther Snyder died in 2006 at the age of 86 whereupon the presidency passed to Mark Taylor, former VP of operations.
Animal Burgers
They launched their ‘Animal’ burger in 1961, where the beef pattie was fried in a thin layer of mustard, add extra pickles and grilled onions were added.
Animal Burger
Protein Burger
Their protein burger, dispenses with the bun and wraps the whole lot in lettuce, for a healthier option.
Protein Burger
Flying Dutchman
A real unusual one this, think of taking the burger out of the bun and , well and nothing. That’s what you get, two patties, two slices of cheese (well that yellow stuff the Americans claim is cheese), pickles salad and wrap it in a slice of paper. In N Out have many items on their secret menu. Not on display in the restaurants, but viewable on the website.
Flying Dutchman
In n Out Burgers Crossed Palm Trees
The company tend to have a pair of crossed palm trees at the front of each location. This is allegedly in allusion to Harry Snyder’s favourite movie, It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad World.
Crossed Palm Trees
Bible Quotes
In keeping with his Christian beliefs, many In n Out Burgers items such as the drinks cups have bible references printed on them.
I sometimes think that half of the funfair rides manufactured around the world are built by Italian companies. Todays quick profile is based on the Treviso based company of Bertazzon 3B.
Started by three brothers Luigi, Ferruccio and Marcello Bertazzon in 1951. They quickly moved into producing dodgem tracks and go-karts.
By 1963 the company was formally established, as Bertazzon 3B (for 3 brothers).
Modern Production
The company now is a major player in the ride production world, with Carousels, dodgems, dark rides, the Matterhorn, flying chairs and rail rides amongst others.
The company is, to use a modern buzz word, vertically integrated. All this means is that they pretty much produce everything they need in house. Some small stuff such as galvanising is done by outside contractors, but pretty much everything else they design and build themselves.
MatterhornCarouselBertazzon RideWave Swinger
Dodgem Cars
One thing that Bertazzon do seem to stand out for is the breadth of dodgem cars they produce. Not just a couple of different styles with a range of paint jobs, they have some pretty unique stuff available, and seem open to the idea of building custom cars for clients.
Classic-BertazzonDodgem Car BertazzonItalian Bumper CarOld Time BertazzonTaxi Dodgem CarsAnimal Dodgem CarBERTAZZON 3B Dodgem Car
They also produce a ‘drifting’ car, which as the name suggests drifts like a rally car when a button is pressed.
William Hesketh Lever (1851-1925), founder of Unilever and later the first Viscount Leverhulme, once said (allegedly) , “I know that half the money I spend on advertising is wasted. My only problem is that I don’t know which half.” The remark was also attributed to a number of other businessmen, and is widely considered to have never been uttered.
Whatever the truth of the matter, advertising is now a huge industry, prevalent in everyday life. We are all constantly bombarded by adverts for everything from new teeth to milk shakes. I can’t honestly say that seeing an advert makes me want to rush out and partake in the cult of that product, but who knows, it quite likely might have some subliminal effect.
Burger Battles
One class of advert that we have all seen, and still do regularly, comes from the burger companies. In the UK we only really have two major players, and the rest tend to be small businesses that don’t have major advertising budgets. Across the pond, there are a number of major chains with restaurants in the hundreds, so there is a much wider range of adverts to look at.
McDonalds
The biggest chain is obviously the home of the golden arches. Being the top of the tree probably gives McDonalds a different perspective on what they need to advertise. Everyone else is throwing pot shots at McD’s but they aren’t trying to topple anyone else. As a result, much of their advertising has been, well, bland. It emphasis how good the food is, or how cheap the food is, and that’s about it. Probably the right thing when you are trying to sell good food cheap, but not exactly edgy or giving us the wow factor.
1963 Ad1975 ad1979 Ad1980 ad1988 ad2022 ad
I tried googling ‘Edgy McDonalds Ads’ and come up with the ad below, visually more exciting, but not what I would call edgy burger advertising.
Edgy McAd
Burger King
The perennial number two chain around the world, Burger King has spent much of its advertising dollars trolling McDonalds. It has positioned itself as the cheeky younger brother to the number one chain, and this shows in its adverts. Few of the King’s adverts have really been about the food, they have always had an edgier tone, generally poking fun, occasionally skirting controversy, sometimes even classy.
Big Mac Behind Advert
Burger King spent nearly a year trolling McDonalds without anyone actually realising. Until at the end they released images of their ads taken from a different angle. What this revealed, was that all of the year’s adverts for their whopper, had actually also contained an image of a Big Mac. Only because of the Macs smaller size, you couldn’t actually see it as it was positioned behind the whopper.
McDonalds in a rare display of edginess responded with an ad of their own exclaiming ‘Behind every good burger is a great burger’.
Burger King Mouldy Advert
One which polarised opinion was the mouldy whopper ad. Much had been written about the abnormally long life of some McDonalds products, with it being claimed they were so full of preservatives that they don’t actually decay. BK produced a series of ads showing that over time their burgers turned mouldy. Although not mentioning their rivals by name, the inference was obvious, BK’s stuff was naturally free from additives.
pregnancy advertcurrywurst Advert
Based in the German market, BK announced a range of really weird burgers for mother’s day, these were to satisfy the cravings of pregnant ladies.
blow advert
With this one BK decided to take a leaf out of Carl Jr’s book and use sex to sell burgers. Or rather suggestiveness. Not sure if you would get away with this one in the current climate!
Whopper Detour Ad
A brilliant piece of work, this promised you a Whopper for 1 cent, but only if you droe to a McDonalds, then used the app whilst you were in the restaurant to order a Whopper for collection from the nearest BK.
onion advert
Always up with current affairs, this one was in the middle of the Covid crisis.
Order From Advert
One of their classier ads, this one was asking you to order from their rivals. During lockdown, everyone was struggling, and their take on it was ordering from a fast food joint, any joint, would be helping people who needed the money.
Flame Grilled
The last one pokes fun at their flame grilling of burgers. For the record we all feel here that BK burgers do taste better than their rivals, whether it is down to being flame grilled, who knows.
Carl’s Jr. and Sexy Burger Advertising
In 1941 Carl Karcher and his wife Margaret, borrowed $311 against their Plymouth car, and added $15 in savings to buy a hot dog stand. By 1945 they had opened their first drive in, called Carl’s Drive In Barbecue. 1956 saw their first Carl’s Jr. opening, so called because it was a smaller version of their main drive in.
Plain Carl Advert
Carl’s Jr. started with pretty much the same adverts as other chains. Images of juicy looking burgers and prices.
Then in 2005 came a new direction. They decided that sex sells. Or More precisely, scantily clad women writhing and moaning whilst eating burgers sells.
Their first ‘slutburger’ ad as it was infamously christened, saw Paris Hilton, a fancy car, soap and water and a burger.
This was followed by a steady stream of sports illustrated alumni, models and singers. All stunningly attractive, all scantily clad and all eating burgers.
3 way advertAudrina AdvertBest Pair AdvertMcKinney AdvertSize AdvertUpton Advert
Predictably the ad caused offence. With one commentator claiming it had ‘set back feminism four decades’. On the other hand the ‘All Natural’ ad featuring Charlotte McKinney has garnered some 4.5 BILLION media impressions worldwide, so they are effective.
I must admit the all natural one was bloody weird, the ad boasted that the burger was a “first ever fast food” item made with “no antibiotics, no added hormones, and no steroids.” I mean WTAF, are they doing in a burger in the first place.
Otley Burger Company
I wasn’t really expecting tiny little independant companies to appear in this list. But it seems that the Otley Burger Company of Leeds, takes provocation to new levels. Or more accurately sheer bad taste. They leverage social media to promote their business. A good move for small businesses as it can be leveraged to create massive benefit at little cost.
Their Mother’s day advert however, used shock value that took bad taste to a new level. Advert below!
Otley Burger Co. Advert
A&W Burgers
A&W just happen to be the oldest restaurant chain in America. Founded in 1919 by Roy W. Allen as a roadside drinks stand in Rodi California, they have grown to some 900 stores.
Their single entry into our advertising hall of fame, is the launch of their bigger 1/3 pound burger, playing on the theme of bigger is better. Unfortunately it failed in spectacular fashion. Why? Well evidently your average American doesn’t do fractional maths very well. And by God anyone knows that 4 is bigger than 3 so a 1/4 pounder has to be bigger than a 1/3 pounder don’t it.
A&W Advert
A&W are intending making a comeback with a new ad for a 3/9 of a pounder, in the hope that Americans take 9 as bigger than 4.
Grill’d
A relatively modern addition, Grill’d was formed in Australia in 2004 in Melbourne. Growing to some 150 stores, the company aired an add that caused outrage. It was meant to troll McDonalds, by having a creepy clown character. unfortunately having said clown chase two kids down a dark alley then appear to flash them, isn’t really acceptable advertising nowadays. In fact it wasn’t really acceptable advertising in any day.
Grill’d, One creepy ad.
Wendy’s Where’s The Beef
Founded in 1969 in Ohio, Wendy’s is the third biggest burger chain in the world.
Like most chains Wendy’s has the biggest, bestest, juiciest blah blah blah. Their adverts are pretty cookie cutter with everybody else’s. Except for one classic. The ‘Where’s the beef?’ advert aired in 1984, with the unknown actress Claire Peller, an elderly lady sat with two other friends looking at a tiny beef pattie in a big bun and questioning how much beef there is. This ad skyrocketed Wendy’s profits and became a classic line.
