I can remember eating at a Wimpy Bar back in the 1970s. For the time, they offered cheap and cheerful meals, that were very popular. Fast food had arrived in Britain and everyone seemed happy.
Today, when it comes to buying a burger, there is far more choice with the likes of McDonald’s, Burger King, and Five Guys, as well as other independent burger chains. But there was once a time when Wimpy’s was the place to go if you wanted a burger.
Actually, they were often the only place to go to, depending on where you lived. You might be able to buy a burger with your chips at the local fish and chip shop, but we weren’t spoilt for choice. Wimpy Bars were a novelty. Founded in the US in 1934, the first UK Wimpy Bar was opened in London, back in 1954.
Cheap as Chips
You can find copies of Wimpy’s 1970s menu online — I’m looking at one as I write. Given the latest cost of living crisis in Britain, the prices are hard to believe.
A Wimpy burger would put you back 16½ pence. Cheeseburger 21p, Eggburger 23p, and a Wimpy king-size burger for 31p.
When it came to a full meal, chips, beans, and two burgers cost 36p. A soup could be had for 9p. Even a golden fish portion would only cost you 16½p. And whatever meal you chose, you could wash it down with a cup of tea for 5½p, or coffee at 8p. If you fancied something really sweet, a hot chocolate drink for 9p could be bought.
But before we all get too nostalgic, and hope to find a time machine to take us back to the days when things were really cheap, it’s all relative. Back in 1972, the average weekly wage was only about £36 — that’s before tax and NI. Not everyone found Wimpy to be that cheap, and price inflation in the seventies was actually horrendous.
But why and when were women banned?
Well, in 1971 the owners of Wimpy, Empire Catering Ltd, decided on a policy of refusing to serve unaccompanied women after midnight. They cited the law in their defence — Chapter 53 of The Late Night Refreshment Houses Act, 1969. This Act made it illegal for a restaurant to knowingly allow ‘prostitutes, thieves or drunken and disorderly persons’ to use their premises.
At the time, the upper management at Wimpy (who I suspect were probably mostly men) took the view that women out late at night on their own were likely to be prostitutes. So, they banned them.
It was met with protest.
Women’s liberation groups objected, and their campaign included a number of nighttime demonstrations at Wimpy Bars. The ban didn’t last long and came to an end in Oct 1971 when, after taking legal advice, Empire Catering removed the ban.
By 1970, Wimpy had more than 1,000 outlets in 23 countries around the world. They had around 600 in Britain during their seventies’ heyday. But today, with increasing competition, Wimpy is a shadow of its former self. They now have about sixty branches across the country.
For a while, they were seen as a ‘cool’ place for teenagers and young people. But even for the time, their views on women being out late at night were somewhat dated and out of step with how Britain was changing.
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