There is something very nostalgic about childhood food. We all have fond memories of restaurants we frequented as kids. When we think about what is a frosty, we have to look at Dave Thomas and what he found nostalgic from his childhood days.  Who Is Dave Thomas Dave Thomas was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He was born to a young woman that he never knew. She gave him up for adoption at birth. When he was 6 weeks old, he was adopted by Rex and Auleva Thomas.  When he was 5 years old, his adoptive mother passed away. His father then bounced around the country looking for work. Dave spent some time near Kalamazoo, Michigan with his grandmother. He fondly remembers being taught the importance of service and treating others well. Naturally these were skills that served him well later in the restaurant industry. At 12 years of age, Dave got his first job. He worked at Regas Restaurant in Knoxville, Tennessee. He got in an argument with his boss and lost his job because of it. It was a formative experience in his life and he vowed to never lose another job. Interestingly enough, the owner of the Regas had a large autographed poster of Dave in the entrance to his restaurant. Apparently they mended that relationship! When Dave was 15 years old, he was living in Fort Wayne, Indiana with his father. He was working at the Hobby House restaurant that was owned by the Clauss family. His father planned to move again to take another job. Instead of moving with him, Dave dropped out to continue working his job at a family restaurant in town. Later in life Dave felt that dropping out of school was the biggest mistake of his life. In 1993 he went back to school and got his GED. He became a fierce advocate for education and started the Dave Thomas Education Center which teaches GED classes to young adults.  Dave and Harlan Sanders When the Korean War broke out, Dave was just 18. He decided to volunteer for the Army instead of waiting for the draft. This way he would have some degree of control over how he served. He was able to go to the Cook and Baker’s School at Fort Benning, Georgia. Dave was then sent to Germany as a mess sergeant. He would prepare daily meals for 2,000+ soldiers.  After he was discharged from the military, Dave went back to the Hobby House to work again with the Clauss family. This is when a guy named Harlan Sanders came to town. He was looking to sell his franchise concept for KFC to restaurateurs in the area. He approached the Clauss family and asked if they’d be interested. Initially they politely declined. However, the Colonel was persistent and eventually convinced them to give it a go.  The Clauss family franchised one KFC, and eventually added several more. During this time, Dave worked closely with Harlan Sanders on his restaurant concept and how he could make KFC more profitable. A few of his suggestions that were picked up were for Colonel to appear in more commercials. Also to reduce the size of the menu and have one signature product. In the mid 1960s, Dave was sent by the Clauss family to help 4 of their struggling KFC franchises. He had such a tremendous impact on turning them around that in 1968 Harlan Sanders approached him to buy his share of the restaurants. Dave sold his share to Sanders for 1.5 million dollars. This was the perfect seed money for his next passion project that would open a year later.  Dave’s Inspiration for Wendy’s There is a lot of speculation around where and when Dave had the idea for Wendy’s. Kewpee Hamburgers is a small burger chain that got its start in Flint, Michigan in 1923.