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Childs Restaurants was one of the first national dining chains in the United States and Canada, having peaked in the 1920s and 1930s with about 125 locations in dozens of markets, serving over 50,000,000 meals a year, with over $37 million in assets at the time. Childs was a pioneer in a number of areas, including design, service, sanitation, and labor relations. It was a contemporary of food service companies such as Horn & Hardart, and a predecessor of companies such as McDonald's. == History == The first Childs Restaurant was launched in 1889 by brothers Samuel S. Childs and William Childs, on the ground level of the Merchants Hotel (current site of One Liberty Plaza, also previously the Singer Building), at 41 Cortlandt Street (between Broadway and Church), in New York City's Financial District.〔Austin, Kenneth L., ("Childs Company Ups and Downs" ), ''The New York Times'', August 29, 1943〕 The brothers' concept for the establishment was to provide economical meals to the working class, quickly, with an unusually high emphasis – for the period – on cleanliness and hygiene. Their novel design format included white tiles, white uniforms, and waitresses instead of then-common waiters.〔Women would work for lower wages than men.〕 In addition to these signature characteristics, Childs locations also featured their pancake griddles in the front window. Within five years, Childs had grown to five profitable locations.〔("Childs Restaurant Founder Is Dead: Samuel S. Childs" ), ''The New York Times'', March 18, 1925〕 They also are credited as inventors of the "tray line" self-service cafeteria format, which they introduced in 1898 at their 130 Broadway location.〔Zuber, Amy, ("William & Samuel Childs" ), ''Nations Restaurant News'', February 1996〕 In 1898, the brothers, confident and ready for more aggressive expansion, combined with several investors to legally incorporate The Childs Unique Dairy Company, with capitalization of $1,000,000, and the stated intent to "establish and operate restaurants in New York City and elsewhere".〔("Childs Unique Dairy Company" ), ''The New York Times'', November 27, 1898〕 It was widely speculated, and finally confirmed in 1912, that several officers of the Standard Oil Company were investors in the restaurant chain, including Henry Morgan Tilford and Charles Sweeney.〔("Standard Oil Money To Extend Childs" ), ''The New York Times'', June 6, 1912〕 At some point, "duPont interests" also gained a significant stock position, which would eventually cause problems for the family owners.〔("Going Vegetable-wise" ), ''Time Magazine'', March 19, 1928〕〔("Childs' War" ), ''Time Magazine'', February 11, 1929〕 In 1899, F.O. Hendrick, a nephew of Samuel and William Childs, launched a casual luncheon restaurant at 142 Fulton Street, practically across the street from his uncles' first location on Cortlandt Street, which was by then 10 years old and highly successful.〔("In The Real Estate Field" ), ''The New York Times'', August 1, 1899〕 After a short period of family competition, Hendrick ultimately brought his restaurant under the Childs umbrella, and remained an operating executive of Childs Restaurants until the family lost control. In 1906, fifteen similar restaurants (called "green doors") which were independently owned and operated by Ellsworth Childs (brother of Samuel and William) were consolidated into the company. Thereafter, Ellsworth remained an executive of Childs until his death in 1929, and is cited as a driving force behind the physical expansion during that period.〔("Ellsworth Childs Dies Suddenly At 60" ), ''The New York Times'', Page 23, April 18, 1929〕〔("Ellsworth Childs Leaves Small Estate" ), ''The New York Times'', Page 12, July 3, 1929〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Childs Restaurants」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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