

Eventually, the original chicken sandwich was born. He bought a pressure cooker and tried to duplicate his mother’s tender, juicy results. He remembered watching his mother fry chicken breasts in hot oil and use a heavy lid to keep up the steam pressure in the pan. Truett experimented with the boneless chicken breasts. Cathy use the filets that were not wanted? The airline industry bought chicken filets from this poultry company, but they only wanted a certain size. But in the early 1960s, a local poultry company asked Truett Cathy if he would have any use for a boneless chicken breast. The Dwarf Grill was known for burgers and fries. With tears flowing down his cheeks, he went to the Dwarf Grill on the following Monday morning, knowing that Ben would never be back. Ben had been Truett’s friend, advisor, and partner in the business. In 1949, Truett received the tragic news that two of his brothers, Ben and Horace, were killed in a plane crash near Dalton, Georgia. It was a practice that he firmly followed for the rest of his life. Truett and Ben made the mutual decision that their grill would be closed on Sundays, giving both them and their employees one day out of seven to rest, worship, and spend time with family. Truett’s parents had instilled in him a respect for the Lord’s Day. When Truett was getting to know Jeannette, the young lady who later became his wife, he sometimes was so exhausted that he would nod off to sleep during their dates! The days and nights were long, and the grueling schedule took a toll upon the two young men. An automotive manufacturing plant was nearby, and the grill was open twenty-four hours to serve the shift workers who came and went at all hours, especially at night. They named their restaurant “The Dwarf Grill” because of its small size. The two young men worked long twelve-hour shifts, alternating with each other so that one of the two brothers was always on hand to make sure that each customer was served with a cheerful smile and excellent service. In 1946, Truett and his brother Ben opened a twenty-four-hour restaurant in Hapeville, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. Upon the end of the war, he returned home, ready to start his own business. When World War II broke out, Truett Cathy served his country in the United States Army. This attitude of careful service affected all that Truett Cathy did in life. He said, “I delivered each paper as if I were delivering it to the front door of the governor’s mansion.” His customers never found a newspaper soaked in a puddle, nor did they ever have to dig through bushes to find their newspapers. In a time when many boys simply threw the newspapers in the general direction of the home’s front door, Truett Cathy went out of his way to serve each of his customers with a smile and an extra touch of care. In their teen years, Truett and Ben delivered newspapers. They would then turn this profit around by chipping ice from the ice box, setting up a shop in the front yard of their parents’ home, and selling each bottle of Coke for a nickel, making a profit of five cents every six-pack sold. Truett and Ben would buy a six-pack of glass Coca-Cola bottles for a quarter. Together, they started selling bottles of carbonated beverages when Truett was eight years old. Truett and his brother, Ben, were especially close. When the audience would laugh, he would add, “And it wasn’t mine. He liked to joke during speaking engagements that, during the days of the Great Depression, all he had to play with was a loose tooth. Looking back, Truett recalled that he did not have many toys and games as a boy. Every week, the Cathy family attended their local Baptist church and learned to walk in the ways of the Lord. A faithful, Godly woman, their mother taught her children to love God, serve others, and honor the Lord’s Day. Growing up during the Great Depression, Truett and his brothers and sisters had to learn to be content with what they had.

Samuel Truett Cathy, who went by his middle name, grew up in the suburbs of Atlanta. Few could have predicted that this boy would grow up to be one of the most successful businessmen of all time, and that his influence as a billionaire and philanthropist would have a positive impact upon millions of people around the world. On March 14, 1921, an infant boy was born in Eatonton, Georgia, to Joseph and Lilla James Cathy.
