Everyone knows McDonald’s. The Big Mac, the Chicken McNuggets, the Egg McMuffins, Mcflurry, the Happy Meal, the Golden Arches the World Famous Fries … these are cherished childhood memories and guilty pleasures. But do you know the real history of McDonald’s? Probably not.
So I’m dedicating this entire post to the history of our most favorite fast food chain in the world. Buckle up, it’s going to be an interesting read.
The story begins with two brothers, Maurice (Mac) and Richard (Dick) McDonald, who founded the first McDonald’s in the mid-1940s. They started their venture in southern California, but their influence quickly spread beyond.
Through the years, the McDonald family business underwent numerous transformations before becoming the global icon it is today. But this evolution required collaboration with a savvy Chicago salesman and the creation of the first scalable fast-food model, which eventually led to debates about the true “original McDonald’s.”
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It All Started in a Movie Theater
Before conceiving America’s most iconic restaurant chain, Mac and Richard McDonald were flipping burgers, not because they had come to California to cook, but to make movies.
In Lisa Napoli’s book, “Ray & Joan: The Man Who Made the McDonald’s Fortune and the Woman Who Gave It All Away,” she reveals that the brothers initially aimed to be movie moguls. They bought a theater, named it the Beacon, and it was there they first dabbled in food service.
Running a movie theater is tough business but it was especially hard during the Great Depression. The McDonalds brothers needed a smart way to save and make money. They installed a concession stand to keep guests from bringing their own snacks.
However, when the Beacon eventually closed, the brothers leveraged their concession skills to enter the food industry for good.
The First McDonald’s Was a Hot Dog Stand
After the Beacon, the McDonald brothers built their restaurant from scratch. They set up shop on California’s famous Route 66, creating an octagonal food stall called the “Airdrome.” At first, they sold hot dogs and orange drinks to travelers from a nearby airport.
The brothers quickly realized that people would always need to eat, even during tough times. The Airdrome’s popularity with hot dogs spurred their ambition and so they moved on from hot dogs to beef.
McDonald’s Bar-B-Q Emerges
Finding success with their food stand, the McDonald brothers relocated to San Bernardino, California. They transformed the Airdrome into their first namesake restaurant, McDonald’s Bar-B-Q.
The original McDonald’s was as bustling as today’s locations, serving up to 125 cars a night. However, competition and World War II challenges forced the brothers to rethink their business model.
From Barbecue to Burgers
In a bold move, Dick and Mac closed McDonald’s Bar-B-Q to revamp their concept. They spent months redesigning everything from the McDonald’s menu to the decor. When they reopened, the new McDonald’s was a streamlined fast-food operation.
The first McDonald’s offer was a small menu with just nine items to simplify operations. This focus on efficiency and quality laid the foundation for their future success. They sold hamburgers, cheeseburgers, specially air-dried fries, hot coffee, and milkshakes, which would later catch the attention of Ray Kroc.
Along Came Ray Kroc
Ray Kroc, a traveling milkshake machine salesman, discovered the McDonald brothers in the 1950s. Impressed by their operation, Kroc joined the business and eventually opened his own franchise in Des Plaines, Illinois, creating what he called the first McDonald’s of his chain concept.
Kroc registered his new company as McDonald’s Systems Inc., later known as the McDonald’s Corporation. This move was independent of his agreement with the McDonald brothers, so it allowed him to expand rapidly.
In 1961, Kroc bought out the brothers for $2.7 million (around $23 million today), a wise investment considering the brand’s $185 billion market cap as of June 2024.
Ray Kroc Aims for Standardization and Expansion
Understanding the crucial role of franchisees in the company’s success, Kroc implemented rigorous standards for every McDonald’s restaurant, covering everything from food preparation to cleanliness.
In 1961, he launched a training program for franchisees, which later became known as Hamburger University. He also revamped the restaurant format by introducing counter staff to handle orders.
In 1963, the company introduced Ronald McDonald, a clown who became the public face of McDonald’s. And in 1968, the Big Mac was launched in the national menu, and became the 2nd best-selling menu item, next to French Fries.
A McDonald’s in Arizona introduced the first drive-through window in 1975, a feature that soon became standard across the chain. Within a decade of Kroc becoming the sole owner, the chain surpassed 1,000 outlets.
Global Dominance and Menu Diversification
McDonald’s continued to grow both domestically and internationally. The first international franchise was opened in 1967 in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, The 1990s saw such rapid growth that a new McDonald’s was said to open somewhere in the world every five hours.
Today, there are approximately 41,822 McDonald’s locations globally and the very first McDonald’s built by the Mac and Dick has been converted into an unofficial McDonald’s museum.