#24: Wetson’s Burger Chain
Herb Wetanson from Long Island was motivated to start Wetson’s burger franchise after encountering McDonald’s in California. In 1959, leveraging family support, he opened the first outlet in Levittown, Long Island, quickly gaining fame with 15 cent hamburgers.
Despite initial triumph, Wetson’s struggled against McDonald’s and Burger King’s expansion in New York during the 1970s. The aggressive competition led to Wetson’s closure by the decade’s end, leaving it as a nostalgic memory.