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Named
after J. Wellington Wimpy in Elzie Segar's
Popeye's comic strip, the Wimpy hamburger
operation was one of Lyons' first venture
into fast food. Until 1950 J. Lyons &
Co felt they did not want to soil their
reputation by going into fast food. That
was an American phenomenon which they felt
the British public were not yet prepared
to adopt. Eddie Gold, however, an
American, had other ideas and continually
pestered the management to at least give
it a try. To the directors surprise the
experiment proved to be a resounding
success and they pressed ahead with
expanding the experience. The Corner
Houses soon had Wimpy bars installed and
some teashops were converted to exploit
the demand from the public. Served in a
toasted bun with a smattering of lettuce
and French fries (the word chips seemed to
disappear from the consumers vocabulary)
the meal could be taken away or eaten on
the premises. In the large majority of
cases it was eaten on the premises; the
public were not yet accustomed to eating
food while walking down the road! The
operation became so successful that a
company was formed to develop the idea
both in the UK and then into Europe. Soon
it became international with over 1,000
restaurants serving the ubiquitous
hamburger overseas and over 450 in the UK.
Lyons' own bakery and meat company were
able to provide the raw ingredients in
order to expand the business as demand
dictated. It was one of the most
successful post war ideas adopted by
Lyons. Hamburgers, accompanied by the
milk-shake Whippsy, was a modern, welcome
experience from the staid restaurants. As
a consequence many young people in post
war Britain embraced the Wimpy and for a
time it became a topic of conversation.
The service was fast, reasonably
inexpensive and the food tasted
good.
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