Robert Oscar Peterson (March 13, 1916 – April 18, 1994) was an American businessman and philanthropist. As the founder of the

Jack in the Box Jack in the Box is an American fast-food restaurant chain founded February 21, 1951, by Robert O. Peterson (1916–1994) in San Diego, California, where it is headquartered. The chain has over 2,200 locations, primarily serving the West Coas ...

restaurant chain, he popularized the drive-through

fast food restaurant A fast-food restaurant, also known as a quick-service restaurant (QSR) within the industry, is a specific type of restaurant that serves fast-food cuisine and has minimal table service. The food served in fast-food restaurants is typically ...

concept. He is credited with being the first to pair the drive-through window with an intercom system.

Personal life

He grew up in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

and graduated from Hoover High School in 1933. He attended

San Diego State College San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

and graduated from

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

with a degree in economics. He was a naval intelligence officer during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. He was married four times, notably (in 1977) to

Maureen O'Connor Maureen O'Connor (born August 7, 1951) is an American lawyer and judge serving as the chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court. She was elected to the court in 2002, becoming chief justice in 2010. Prior to this, O'Connor served as an associate ...

, who went on to become the first female mayor of San Diego from 1985 to 1992; this was his only marriage not to end in divorce. The former mayor was at his side when he died in 1994. He had four children by his previous marriage to Lorraine Bhalla, none of whom went into the restaurant business.

Restaurant career

Peterson entered the restaurant business in 1941 with a drive-in diner called "Topsy's" (later renamed "Oscar's"), located at 6270

El Cajon Boulevard El Cajon Boulevard is a major east–west thoroughfare through San Diego, La Mesa and El Cajon, California. Before the creation of Interstate 8 it was the principal automobile route from San Diego to El Cajon, the Imperial Valley, and points ...

in San Diego. This was a classic drive-in where food was served by carhops to patrons in the parking lot. Over the next decade his company, the San Diego Commissary Company, operated several Topsy's and Oscar's restaurants throughout San Diego, including a flagship Oscar's at Midway Drive and Rosecrans Street in the Midway area. In 1951, he converted the Oscar's on

into the first Jack in the Box, a drive-through with the innovation of a two-way intercom that allowed one car to place an order while another car was being served. Other restaurants had previously offered drive-up window service, but Jack in the Box was the first major chain to make drive-through windows the focus of its operation. Since the concept was unfamiliar to most customers, the speaker (topped with the trademark clown) had a sign that announced "Pull forward, Jack will speak to you!" PetersonForesterHouse

The Jack in the Box restaurant was conceived as a "modern food machine" and was designed by La Jolla master architect Russell Forester, who also designed Peterson's landmark home in

Point Loma Point Loma (Spanish: ''Punta de la Loma'', meaning "Hill Point"; Kumeyaay: ''Amat Kunyily'', meaning "Black Earth") is a seaside community within the city of San Diego, California. Geographically it is a hilly peninsula that is bordered on the w ...

in 1965. Peterson built the chain to over 300 locations. He renamed his company Foodmaker in 1960 and sold it in 1967 to

Ralston-Purina Ralston Purina Company was a St. Louis, Missouri,–based American conglomerate with substantial holdings in animal feed, food, pet food, consumer products, and entertainment. On December 12, 2001, it merged with Swiss food-giant Nestlé's Fr ...

. By that time, the "drive-thru" concept had become an industry standard.

Later life

He spent the final 30 years of his life in philanthropy and civic improvement. He was a consistent patron of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, sponsoring research for many years, and donating the 96-foot diesel yacht ''Dolphin'' to the institution in 1973. Peterson Hall at the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is t ...

is named after him. In 1984, he was diagnosed with

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

. He battled the disease for the next 10 years until his death in 1994 at the age of 78.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Peterson, Robert O. 1916 births 1994 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople Businesspeople from San Diego United States Navy officers Fast-food chain founders Deaths from leukemia Deaths from cancer in California First ladies and gentlemen of San Diego Jack in the Box University of California, Los Angeles alumni United States Navy personnel of World War II