Causes of panic buying

Usage examples of shortages.

By late 1942, there were spot shortages, and the area managers did all they could to keep meat in their Castles.

White Castle also suffered annoying and debilitating shortages in nonfood commodities.

Before long, White Castle patrons grew accustomed to eating an order of french fries with their hamburgers or egg sandwiches, and the demand for them kept increasing, even when the shortages disappeared after the war.

During this time, White Castle lost its lead in the fast-food industry, barely surviving wartime shortages and restrictions.

A few voiced their displeasure over the extended wait and temporary shortages, but such criticism was minimal.

Instead, unseen setbacks such as labor shortages, food scarcity, and changing social patterns greatly affected the marketplace.

Several spot shortages were common, depriving the Castles of one or more food items.

Nevertheless, their first brief disappearance signaled White Castle that further shortages were imminent.

Even so, White Castle continued to experience periodic shortages for the remainder of the war.

For a while, these periodic onion shortages were considered to be just another obstacle to conducting business as usual.

Far more threatening to a hamburger chain than shortages of sugar, cola, or coffee was the dwindling supply of meat.

The Detroit managers, confronting extreme shortages and especially high prices in their city, raised the price of their hamburgers to a dime, breaking the company-imposed price ceiling.

Whether because of labor shortages or food scarcity, dozens of Castles were boarded up during the last two years of the war.

Even though his company had managed to survive the economic ravages of the Depression, the combination of wartime labor and commodity shortages were devastating White Castle.

As a result, Americans ate 20 percent more beef in 1946 than they had in 1940 and, as a result, renewed fears of more shortages and rationing.