Samuel L. Bickford, of New York-based Bickford's, along with other investors, purchased the White Lunch System (a Pacific coast restaurant chain) in 1924. They renamed the compnay Foster Lunch System, for co-owner Lamont Foster. In 1932 the Foster chain became a subsidiary of Bickford's, Inc. (cf. The Bickford story, in American Restaurant Magazine, Aug. 1956)
From the description of Foster's and Bickford's diners and bakeries [graphic]. ca. 1940-1950? (University of California, Berkeley). WorldCat record id: 775611910