The History of Food Trucks

The History of Food Trucks

The food truck that we know and love today did not start out as technically innovative as they are today. It began with extremely simple roots starting with a cart, evolving to a chuckwagon, then the ever infamous Oscar Meyer Weiner Mobile, then to delicious Ice Cream trucks, and finally after that the first food truck was born.

Pushcart

The food truck has played an instrumental role in our nations history all the way back to 1691, with the invention of the Push Cart in New York City. They lacked any sort of ability to heat or cook food, however workers from all over the city relied heavily on these for a cheap and quick sandwich-type meal. While these certainly cannot be comparable to a food truck today, they played a huge role in advancing the idea that food does not have to only be served in restaurants. 

Chuckwagons came next, but you can learn more on these in the section below.

Oscar Meyer Weiner Mobile

In 1936, the first portable hot dog hot dog cart came to life in the form of a literal hot dog. Developed by Oscar Meyer's nephew, Karl Meyer, it was 13ft long and resembled an actual hot dog. In 1958, Brooks Stevens took the design to a whole new level by adding a bun, making it 27ft in length, and adding full color. Many designs of the vehicle evolved over the years, but ultimately this weiner mobile played a significant role in the advancement of mobile food.

Ice Cream Trucks

The first ice-cream trucks were invented in the 1950s. They were the first trucks that had to generate their own power, and thus the early trucks were often over-taken by the heat from the condensers, generator, and engine. They had to experiment with different generators and had to figure out which sort of heat would work best. They played a fundamental role in shaping the design and technology for future food trucks. 

The Food Truck

Finally after all of these various forms of mobile food inventions, the first modern food truck came. In 1974 Raul Martinez converted an old ice cream truck into the nation's first taco truck in Los Angeles. Quickly after that in the 1980s, the appearance of Grease Trucks began appearing close to college campuses. This spurred ideas for many different kinds of food trucks, and they began appearing everywhere. Since then, there have been many organizations created to protect the rights and help the advancement of food trucks such as the Southern California Mobile Food Vendors Association (2010) and the National Food Truck Association (2014). In 2010, cities began to dedicate spaces to food trucks. They became extremely popular in the media, and in the same year The Great Food Truck Race became the first TV show dedicated to food trucks. 

Chuckwagons

The chuckwagons would carry all of the stuff needed to prepare meals along with bed rolls. The design of the wagon made them great for storage. Typical vegetables consisted of peas, beans, cabbage, and corn and typical meats were beef and bison. The lower quality portions of meat used to be called “chuck." Chuckwagons can still be purchased today. On a cattle drive, the cook was considered second in charge of the drive to the trail boss and would be paid more than the wranglers. The typical nickname for the cook was “cookie.” This emphasis on the importance of the cook to the chuckwagon is comparable to the importance of the cook in a food truck.

Charles Goodnight

Charles Goodnight (March 5th, 1836 - December 12, 1929) was a famous rancher in Texas. He was known as the “father of the Texas Panhandle” and credited with the creation of the Chuckwagon. He was born in Illinois and moved to Texas in 1846. He became a Texas Ranger and fought in the Civil War. He invented the chuckwagon in 1866 on a cattle drive in the Texas panhandle at JA Ranch. The song Goodnight-Loving Trail by Utah Phillips references Goodnight and his chuckwagon cook outs on cattle drives.

How It Connects
 
The Ginger Armadillo was originally called “The Crappy Little Chuckwagon,” but after an interview on a local radio show, they decided to rename it “The Ginger Armadillo.” The fact that the Ginger Armadillo cooks authentic central Texan cuisine fits in with the idea of the chuckwagon. It was only after researching what a chuckwagon was did I realize that the Ginger Armadillo really does capture some qualities of the food truck’s predecessor, the chuckwagon. The food is similar to what would have been expected from chuckwagons (granted they aren’t afraid to experiment with other foods as well). They also roam around throughout the week and never really in one place for too long, similar to how a chuckwagon would have been used.

As the evolution of a chuck wagon has evolved from a wood campfire to modern mobile gas cooktops the food has also seen a dramatic shift. “The location Inspires everything” says head chef of La Cocinita food truck. Her truck originated in Chicago but her love of New Orleans brought her to the swamps of Louisiana. “I was serving broughts and sauerkraut in Chicago, now I’m serving gumbo and jambalaya” she says that her move to New Orleans not only changed what was on the menu but also what she believed the life working on a food truck meant to her. “I never imagined competing with local restaurants from my little wagon,” but thats exactly what her food truck is doing. She went on to say that she originally dreamed of opening up her own restaurant, but now would rather expand her fleet of trucks as the overhead cost of a restaurant is far greater than owning her trucks.
 
Location plays a big role on the food that’s being prepared, but does the quality scale up when compared to restaurant food? Their is no distinct answer, because the food varies drastically from truck to truck. The Austin own Mighty Cone is a great example; it servers fried chicken tacos in a cone that was originally intended for using with a water cooler. Though this truck may not sell sushi or other delicacies, the people that eat at the Cone love it’s artistic plating and creative use of different ingredients. In recent years, gourmet food trucks have actually began popping up and are moving away from street food and towards finer delicacies. East Side Kings, another Austin food truck, is serving up gourmet ramen and so much more. Their a prime example of a food truck that was so good they had to open up a restaurant (four restaurants to be exact). Now ESK is known for having food thats at a gourmet level for a price that just a touch higher than street food and it’s truly a wonderful thing. Though, opening up these permanent locations has been said to have take a toll on their foods quality, it’s still my personal favorite.

Whats all the fuss about anyway? Well food trucks are truly a more social environment that restaurants. I believe that it’s this aspect that has sparked such a large interest for them in the US. In addition, on average the majority of food trucks serve food quite quick. A poll showed that the average wait for your favorite editable from a food truck takes only seven minutes, where as the average wait at a dine-in-restaurant is thirteen minutes. This time saving convince allows people to get on the go faster and eat the food where they want it. Now grant it, food trucks aren't fast food. They are quite different intact. The premise behind a food truck isn’t to be faster or more efficient than restaurants, rather its just another outlet for those creative in the culinary arts to share their wonderful creations to the world. Food is truly a work of art and I believe food trucks embrace this ideology to the fullest.

Food trucks are a pivotal part of Austin's culture. In 2012, there were about 1,400 different food trucks registered within the city of Austin. They are a good way for those who aspire to own their own food joint to get into the business but not take as big of a risk as brick-and-mortar restaurants. It's hard to say when the first official food truck came into the city but there are a few that have been here for quite a while. Since they are so recent, not a lot of research has been conducted on them. As we discover more about each and individual food truck, we will be able to conduct our own research on the history of Austin's food truck scene.

The Ginger Armadillo

Why do some people consider food art? What's up with all of these food trucks? How do you even begin to get into the business? We aim to figure out the answers to these and many other common questions that run through our mind. Our location in one of the largest locations of food trucks in the United States gives us the leg up we're looking for to find these answers. Join us on this interactive, multi-platform adventure to feed not only your curiosity, but maybe your stomach along the way.

Mobile AppGinger Armadillo

Sync Across All Devices

Take the Ginger Armadillo on the go with you.

Mobile App

The mobile app allows you to see the details about the Ginger Armadillo. It has different tabs that take you to different sections about the food truck. Our goal is to have an app that would include multiple food trucks that give you more incite on each of these food trucks as we go along in this journey.

What's in the App?

About

In this tab, the users will be
able to see what the Ginger Armadillo is all  about. 
   

Menu

In this tab, the users will be
able to look at the Ginger Armadillo's full menu. The can
see individual pictures of the
food and click on the item to
explore more about each
entree.
   

Find Us

This tab allows the users to
see where the truck is located.
It incorporates the interactive 
map that is placed at the 
bottom of this page. The users
can easily find where the food
truck is and even see where it
will be in future days.

Contact Us

In this tab, users can see each
of the Ginger Armadillo 
employees, who they are
and what their role is at the 
truck itself. This allows the 
users to get a deeper insight
and a more personal feel to
the story.

Where Is The Truck?

The goal of this map is to engage the customers in an interactive story about the food truck. This story will be told in terms of date, time, location, photos of the location, specials, events, and other aspects of their day to day travel. The potential for this map is limitless, as it serves as a daily location blog and supports the business as a marketing component.