Forty-five years ago, Lou Groen's career began its turn from rags to fishes.
Groen, who began his working life as a homeless teenager in the 1930s, was casting about in 1962 for a way to save his floundering hamburger restaurant in Monfort Heights.
His efforts caught more than a nibble. He created a sandwich that would eventually be consumed at a rate of 300 million a year - the McDonald's Filet-O-Fish.
Groen's restaurant was the Cincinnati area's first McDonald's. His problem: The clientele was heavily Catholic. Back then, most Catholics abstained from meat every Friday, not just during Lent, a 40-day period of repentance that begins this week with Ash Wednesday.
"Frisch's dominated the market, and they had a very good fish sandwich," recalled Groen."I was struggling. The crew was my wife, myself, and a man named George. I did repairs, swept floors, you name it.
Groen said the area was 87% Catholic at the time, and that all of his customers were going to Frisch's on Fridays.
Groen, who is also Catholic, decided to take things into his own hands.
"So I invented my fish sandwich, developed a special batter, made the tartar sauce and took it to headquarters."
That led to a wager between Groen and McDonald's chief Ray Kroc, who was preparing his own meatless alternative.
"He called his sandwich the Hula Burger," Groen said. "It was a cold bun and a slice of pineapple and that was it. Ray said to me, 'Well, Lou, I'm going to put your fish sandwich on (a menu) for a Friday. But I'm going to put my special sandwich on, too. Whichever sells the most, that's the one we'll go with.'
When judgement day came, Groen said there wasn't much of a contest.
"Friday came and the word came out. I won hands down. I sold 350 fish sandwiches that day," Groen said.
But the chain compelled Groen to modify the fish recipe.
"I wanted halibut originally," Groen said. "I was paying $2 a pound for halibut. That sandwich cost me 30 cents apiece to make. They told me it had to sell for 25 cents. I had to fall back on Atlantic cod, a whitefish, and I added a slice of cheese. But my halibut sandwich far outshines that one."
Groen wasn't complaining.
"My fish sandwich was the first addition ever to McDonald's original menu," he said. "It saved my franchise."
And fed it. By the time he sold out in 1986, Groen owned 43 McDonald's restaurants in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, about half the number the region contains today. But his prosperity didn't include a slice of the Filet-O-Fish's national sales.
"Not a penny," he said. "I made my money by selling the product and being the best operator I could."
