In the early 1940s, William Rosenberg, a shipyard worker in Quincy, MA, realized there wasn’t anywhere nearby for him and his fellow workers to get lunch. He borrowed $2,500 to start a food truck called “Industrial Luncheon Services”, and sold sandwiches, doughnuts, snacks and coffee. 

After a few years, Rosenberg looked for a more permanent location for his business. He had noticed that most of his sales came from coffee and doughnuts and paired his menu down to just those items. “Open Kettle” opened at 543 Southern Artery Quincy, MA in 1948. The name was changed to Dunkin’ Donuts in 1950, after Rosenberg noticed his customers dunked their donuts in their coffee. 

Dunkin’ Donuts was very successful. The company expanded and had 5 locations by 1952, and began selling franchises by 1955. The chain went public in 1968, and was purchased by Allied Lyons in 1990. Today, there are over 11,300 locations worldwide, with 8,100 in the United States, and 3,200 in other countries around the world. The original Dunkin’ Donuts location is still open and has become a retro museum. The inside is decorated to look like it did when it originally opened. There’s a plaque on one wall that says “This is the site of the original Dunkin’ Donuts” and another wall that features all the different company logos throughout the years..