The Arkansas Burger Company, a popular restaurant located in Little Rock, opened its doors in 2000. Faulkner County native Dan Spencer owned and operated the restaurant until 2017 when he retired at age 78. Spencer graduated from Arkansas Teacher’s College, now University of Central Arkansas, in 1962 and became youth director at the Little Rock Boys and Girls Club for five years. He married Jeanne Spencer in 1968 and moved to Dallas, where he was an administrator at University of Texas Southwestern Medical School for 25 years. The couple returned to Little Rock in 1994. Spencer aspired to open a hamburger restaurant for many years, researching the topic thoroughly before opening Arkansas Burger Company in 2000. Spencer found a building located on 7410 Cantrell Road, Little Rock, to remodel into the restaurant. During the remodeling, Spencer spent off-days searching local thrift stores and flea markets for Arkansas-related memorabilia to display on the walls of the restaurant. This eclectic mix of posters and art now comprises the Arkansas Burger Company Collection.
This collection contains mostly visual materials that adorned the walls of Arkansas Burger Company, many of which are posters, photographs and promotional materials of sports or tourist attractions throughout Arkansas.
· Arkansas Burger Company menus undated (Box 1)
· Arkansas Industrial Development Commission award to city of Hot Springs, signed by Winthrop Rockefeller undated (Box 2)
· Arkansas Razorback football brochure 1966 (Box 1)
· Arkansas State Capitol photo postcard undated (Box 1)
· "B.C." cartoon on cardboard, Johnny Hart 2000 (Box 1)
· Bath House Row, Hot Springs 1888 (Box 2)
· "Buffalo River Country" cartoon by George Fisher, Arkansas Gazette 1980 (Box 2)
· Cambiata Singers in concert at Arkansas Burger Company poster undated (Box 3)
· Clyde Beatty's Cole Bros. Circus at Union County Fairgrounds poster undated (Box 3)
· Dixie Quartet of Arkansas newspaper cutout undated (Box 1)
· Drew Smyly memorabilia photos, signed, mounted on cardboard undated (Box 3)
· Fifty-Seventh General Assembly of Arkansas State Senate 1949 (Box 3)
· First National Bank of Fort Smith illustrate poster with calendar 1986 (Box 3)
· "Garrison Avenue, Fort Smith, Arkansas, 1926" by John Bell, Jr. 1991 (Box 3)
· Hinderliter House color card undated (Box 1)
· Historic Pulaski County illustrations undated (Box 2)
· Hope Watermelon Festival illustrated poster 1992 (Box 2)
· "Honest Pack Association" strawberry label undated (Box 1)
· Homestead Act Certificate, Harrison, Arkansas circa 1898 (Box 2)
· Hubert Castle International Circus at Fort Smith Shrine Club poster undated (Box 3)
· Illustrated calendar on cardboard 1956 (Box 2)
· Inauguration Day 1993 stamped envelope from Hope, Arkansas 1993 (Box 1)
· Lobby cards, Palace Theater, Greenwood, Arkansas 1963-1964 (Box 1)
· Union County Court House, El Dorado, Arkansas, postcard 1944 (Box 1)
· Little Rock Zoo color card undated (Box 1)
· Official Centennial Celebration Arkansas State Highway Map undated (Box 3)
· Plaza Hotel Courts, Camden, Arkansas postcard undated (Box 1)
· "There's No Place Like Little Rock" card undated (Box 1)
· Program for Arkansas County Bicentennial 1976 (Box 1)
· Photos 1945-2003 (Box 1)
o PH.BurgerCompany.01: Unidentified town during flood, black and white photo, 10" x 8" undated
o PH.BurgerCompany.02: West Main Street, Batesville, Ark. 10" x 8" c. 1945
o PH.BurgerCompany.03: Miss Fisher’s 2nd Grade Class, Warren Dupree Elementary, Jacksonville, AR, black and white photo, 10" x 8" 1966-1967
o PH.BurgerCompany.04: “AR Burger Co. Crew Class of 2003, Cole Cawthron, Robert Bemberg, Matt Moore, Mason McBroom, Chase Carter” 2003
o PH.BurgerCompany.05: Aaron Walter “Arkansas Burger Company Crew” senior photo mounted on cardboard, 12cm x 17cm 2003
· "The Attack on Arkansas Post" illustration 1894 (Box 2)
· "The Mountain Home of General Albert Pike in Montgomery County, Arkansas" undated (Box 3)
· Vinyl record, "Arkansas Tech Junior High Music Camp 1980 Session 1" 1980 (Box 2)
· Vinyl record, "Hogwild" by Tom Cook, All Star Records [two copies] 1983 (Box 2)
· 50th Anniversary U of A football 1954 SWC Champions poster 2004 (Box 3)
