Bun Gauge
date: label: Date made
content: 1990
notes: label: Description
content: One hallmark of the American fast food industry has been customer convenience in knowing precisely what one's food will look and taste like. The lack of variation has extended to the food preparation routines of the fast food workforce. Specialized kitchen aids such as this bun gauge have been devised to eliminate guesswork and meal–to–meal variation.
label: Description
content: There was a time in American history when neither customers nor restaurants cared whether the height of a hamburger bun emerging from the oven was a bit higher or lower than the next bun. But as this gauge demonstrates, new parameters emerged in the late 20th century to reduce this likelihood. As with car parts and clock gears, production quality decisions are removed from the individual worker. No longer does a baker need to use seasoned judgment to determining the proper look of a burger bun. Now he or she simply places one side of this go–no–go gauge over a sample bun to test for the proper height and diameter of a Quarter Pounder, a Big Mac, a regular burger, or a slice of bun.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Occupations
label: See more items in
content: Work
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1991.0324.05
label: catalog number
content: 1991.0324.05
label: accession number
content: 1991.0324
objectType: label: Object Name
content: gauge
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: plastic (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: average spatial: 22.5 cm x 17.2 cm; x 8 7/8 in x 6 3/4 in