This Largely-Forgotten Chain Used To Sell A Dozen Burgers For A Single Dollar

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In the mid-20th century, fast food restaurant chains were a lot more localized than they are now. The Carolinas had Hardee's, California had In-N-Out, and Florida had Milligan's Beefy Burgers. Milligan's was founded in Starke, Florida in 1942 by Elmer B. and Dorothy Hair Milligan, and sold more than 450,000 burgers in that first year. Less than a decade later, Milligan's had expanded to Springfield and Jacksonville. By the mid-1960s, Milligan's 16 locations served over 5 million burgers to hungry customers who were literally buying burgers by the sackful. A sack of burgers at Mulligan's meant 12 burgers, and it only cost $1 in 1964. Accounting for inflation, that comes to just over $10 more than 60 years later. But it's hard to imagine paying less than a dollar for a hamburger in today's market.

You can still find regional fast food chains in every state, but sadly Milligan's has disappeared from the map. Unable to compete in a quickly growing market, Milligan's joined the list of burger chains that no longer exist, serving its last beefy burger in 1974. Although some of its buildings with their distinctive pointed M arches are still found across Florida, they house a variety of different businesses including a quick service sandwich restaurant.

Many people today look back on vanished 1970s old-school chain restaurants with fondness, like Milligan's Beefy Burgers. Plenty of customers have taken a trip down memory lane to enjoy the past. One former customer posted on a Jacksonville History Facebook group, "[I] remember when my granddaddy would take me and my brothers and sister to Milligan's on Friday night ... best burgers." A commenter on the Metro Jacksonville forum said, "You got a thick, beefy, seasoned slab o' meat on that little steamed bun." They wished Milligan's would re-open, referring to the burgers as "little gems." Another forum poster described the burgers as square, a little less than a few inches in size with square buns to match, more like sliders, saying, "And all they put on them was a little sauce and pickles."

Milligan's offered its inexpensive burgers for breakfast, as well as lunch and dinner. One fan recalled, "Mom worked shift work and would get me three cheese Mulligan burgers for breakfast before taking me to school. I had them gone by the time we pulled into Holy Rosary." Whether it was the taste of the burgers or simply the affordable price and convenience, many customers echoed the shared loss of a nostalgic institution. It's tough to beat the fact multiple people could have breakfast, lunch, or dinner for less than a dollar.