Whataburger

In 1950, entrepreneur Harmon Dobson worked with Paul Burton to found a hamburger company. Dobson's goal was to "make a better burger that took two hands to hold and tasted so good that when you took a bite you would say 'What a burger!'" In June 1950, Dobson was granted the Whataburger trademark. He received his 5-inch buns from the Rainbo bakery run by G.M. Atkinson where they hand made a set of pans for the buns. On August 8, they opened Whataburger #1 on Ayers Street in Corpus Christi, Texas, across from Del Mar College. The store sold burgers for 25 cents, and also sold drinks and chips. In 1951, Burton and Dobson ended their partnership after arguments concerning Dobson's price raise of the burger from 25 to 30 cents. Burton settled with owning the Whataburger franchises in San Antonio, Texas. Months later, prices for burgers were raised to 35 cents. In 1952, Dobson opened "Whataburger #4" in Kingsville, Texas, the first store outside of San Antonio. In 1953, Joe Andrews, Sr. became the first non-founder franchise owner with "Whataburger #5" in Alice, Texas. In 1959, "Whataburger #21", in Pensacola, Florida, became the first Whataburger restaurant outside Texas