To meet the demand in 1987, George Webb:

• Ordered more than 25,000 pounds of ground beef and 173,000 hamburger buns
• Used 573 gallons of ketchup and 286 gallons of brown mustard
• Topped the burgers with 2,868 pounds of onions and 367,180 slices of pickles

To handle the expected crowds:

• 25 police departments were notified in advance of the giveaway
• Two – four security guards were stationed at each Webb location
• Additional cooks and servers were on hand from Noon - 8 p.m. However, no new personnel were hired. The staff simply worked extra shifts
• At the Webb’s on Farwell, seven cooks and 12 servers were on duty – three times the usual number
• At an average of 300 customers per hour at each location, 50 hamburgers were handed out every 10 minutes

The Reaction: While many fans ate
their burgers immediately...

• Ralph Wattstein, who was at the Oakland Avenue Webb’s, vowed not to eat his burger. “I’m freezing my burger because this is history. I’ve been waiting for this for many, many moons.”
• Some fans asked Dave Stamm, the company president, to autograph their burger.