After the Civil War, free African Americans often excluded from traditional music venues

like nightclubs, theaters, and concert halls due to state-sanctioned racism instead turned

to forming singing groups at local barbershops.

The barbershop quartet was born, and as with much of black culture, white soon copied

the trend.

The form peaked in cultural relevance in the 20th century prior to World War I and revived

in the late 1930s with the founding of Spebsquah, the society for the preservation and encouragement

of barbershop quartets singing in America, who encouraged performing wearing straw boaters.

In 1940, a barbershop quartet member named Sam opened a tavern in Seattle, giving it

its name from one of his favorite tunes about a colorful songbird.

In 1969, Sam sold the business to Jerry Kinggan, who revamped the menu by adding an array

of two dozen different burgers.

The burger menu would become the restaurant's signature, transforming it from a local dive

into a smash hit with a nearby University of Washington student body.

The next decade, the chain became a franchise, migrating across the US and nesting itself

in dozens of different cities.

Though the original restaurant has shuttered due to building codes, they are now over 500

stores nationwide with over a billion dollars in sales annually.

This week on Doe Boys, Red Robin.

Welcome to Doe Boys, the podcast about chain restaurants.

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