The "Krystal" name actually refers to the owners' focus on cleanliness standards, something that was extremely important during the 1930s, as, at the time, ground beef didn't exactly have a great reputation, partially thanks to works like Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle," which portrayed beef in general as an unsanitary food item. White Castle was already paving the way for ground beef's enhanced reputation, but even when Krystal opened more than 10 years after the first White Castle location, the owners still had their work cut out for them.

As for why "Krystal" in order to indicate cleanliness, it all came down to Rody Davenport Jr.'s wife, who saw, as Chattanooga Today reports, a crystal ball at a neighbor's house and the phrase "clean as crystal" came to mind. To change things up a bit, the owners swapped the "C" for a "K" and Krystal was born. Today, you can still spot a nod to that first crystal ball sitting atop each Krystal location.