Carl's Jr. Founder Carl Karcher Dies At Age 90

Source: KNBC

FULLERTON, Calif. -- Carl Karcher, who turned a lone hot dog cart in Los Angeles into the Carl's Jr. fast-food chain, died Friday at a Fullerton hospital, five days short of what would have been his 91st birthday, a spokeswoman said.

Karcher was admitted to St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton on New Year's Day, suffering from Parkinson's-related pneumonia.

Born Jan. 16, 1917, in Sandusky, Ohio, Karcher moved to Anaheim where his uncle ran a small business. In 1941, Karcher and his wife Margaret, started their first business, a hot dog cart, in Los Angeles, borrowing $311 against their Plymouth and adding the $15 from Margaret's purse, according to the 2002 book "Fast Food Nation."

In 1945, they opened their first restaurant, Carl's Drive-In Barbecue in Anaheim.

By 1974, Carl's Jr. had grown to 100 restaurants and 300 by 1981.

Read more: http://www.knbc.com/news/15033999/detail.html

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His customers are lucky if they make it to 50 :)

So long Carl.

livin' til 90 means he probably didn't eat too many of them... :)

Sonofabitch made the best Western Bacon Cheeseburgers on this or any other planet: well worth the arterial damage. RIP.

He did a great thing -- I love Carl's Jr. RIP.

Sorry, Idiocracy moment.

That movie is the shit.

But the commercials featuring that slovenly voiced jerky druggy sounding guy, telling people to leave him alone, cause he is eatin', is enough to kill any appetite. I cannot imagine anyone okaying that kind of commercials. Yucko.

so you know

I asked my girlfriend to move over on the couch, and she said, "I'M EATING!" - I think it was granola though. It did make me think of that commercial.... I hope that wasn't the very second the poor mine died. I have a friend who won't go to Carl's Jr. because of those commercials. In-N-Out is way better, but CJ is open all night (i.e. when I'm awake and hungry).

If I was a customer of that place, I would boycott them just because of the commercials.

The owner and his upper echelon are all right wing wackos. I don't eat their anymore because off that.

I find it kind of creepy. Just wait for the name change. First, they bought them, then they changed the menu, then the logo (to be the same as Carl's Jr.), I assume the name will come next. One thing they did do was some how magically improve the service. I remember Hardees always had the worst fast food service. Now that accolade goes to Wendy's. (I know my fast food well.... all over the world).

A real ugly affair.

I haven't paid any attention the past few years, but when I last lived in California there was a real struggle going on over in-n-out. From what I remember, a woman who had married into the family (it's a family run chain, not a franchise) was the head executive and was making changes that a lot of family members were not happy with. I hope it's stayed together and they can keep it together. From my experience, the fast food places (not counting 1 restaurant places) with the best food and best service are the family owned chains, never the franchises. In-N-Out and White Castle are the two big ones that immediately come to mind. Shit, I even think there's something creepily unamerican about franchise restaurants, and as much as I hate big business, think that there's something very good and american about the family owned places. Just my 2 cents.

I think that's what started the infighting.

Of course, In-n-Out is more than a hamburger place in California. Here, it's a kind of religion -- on a bun, to
eat in your car.

Whenever I go back to California, I try to have in-n-out be one of the first and one of the last things I eat on the trip. For a few months there was one just down the road from an apartment a cousin and I lived in. We must have eaten there (or more probably, got take out) 3 or 4 nights a week. I love the codes. Nothing does it for me like a double double animal style.

I try to learn all of the codes, but I didn't know that one - learning is fun!

" a religion on a bun, that you eat in your car " :rofl:

In n out is still intact. There was a little squabble going on, but they are still in the family. No such luck w/ Fatburger, although they're going strong in lots of places around the country.

Hardee's swallowed up and obliterated Burger Chef years ago with the same formula. First the logo, then the menu, then the name. Be nice to see it happen right back to them.

evidentally due to a new AZ law they won't be building any new Carl's Jr. restaurants here.


Hire an Illegal Worker, Lose Your Business
Arizona's tough new immigration law has companies running scared

by Jane Sasseen
In the 20-plus years since starting out as a cook, Jason LeVecke has built up one of the biggest restaurant chains in Arizona. He now boasts 1,200 employees manning 57 Carl's Jr.s across the state--ten of them added this year alone. But on Jan. 1, a new law takes effect in Arizona that would severely punish businesses caught hiring illegal immigrants. So LeVecke is looking for growth outside his home state, and will build 25 new restaurants in Texas. Unless the legal situation improves, he says: "We won't add any new sites in Arizona. It's too great a risk."

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_52/b4064064950642.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_businessweek+exclusives

And other Nut-Right organizations.

BIGOT BURGER MAN DIES - Let that be his legacy.