Ray Kroc cut the ribbon on the first McDonald’s franchise, opened in Des Plaines, Ill., back in 1955 — and the rest is fast food history.
But the McDonald’s story begins years before that — and halfway across the continent in Southern California, to boot.
And did you know that the Big Mac wasn’t invented until 1967, and sold for just 45 cents?
Nowadays, we take the Golden Arches for granted — and take it very personally when prices start climbing, as they have in recent years.
Here, courtesy of Business Insider, let’s take a glimpse at some of the most fascinating — and sometimes surprising — factoids from the burger joint’s past and present.
The first McDonald’s was popular for something other than burgers
The little drive-in restaurant discovered by milkshake machine salesman Ray Kroc in 1954 was very different than the McDonald’s we know today.
Located in San Bernardino, Calif., McDonald’s Bar-B-Q was famous for their hot dogs, with potato chips as a side. The restaurant was opened in 1940.
In 1948, the owners pivoted to burgers, adding french fries and milkshakes in 1949.
What appeared to impress Kroc most about the restaurant was its efficiency — to allow customers to be served in record time, food was cooked ahead, wrapped up and kept warm under heat lamps, a practice followed by McDonald’s for decades.
A McDonald’s burger cost 15 cents in 1948
In the pre-Kroc era, you could get a burger for a mere 15 cents, company historical records show.
McDonald’s sold over 15 million burgers before Ray Kroc even stepped in
According to Mother Jones, McDonald’s claimed to have sold a whopping 15 million burgers in Southern California by 1955, the year Kroc opened his Chicago-area franchise. The Wall Street Journal estimated that the brand hit the 300 billion mark about a decade ago.
A McDonald’s franchisee in Pennsylvania invented the Big Mac
Jim Delligatti, owner and operator of a number of McDonald’s franchises in the Pittsburgh region is widely credited as the inventor of the company’s most iconic menu item, famously containing two beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, and onions on a sesame-seed bun.
The double burger was first tested in one of Delligatti’s restaurants — in the small city of Uniontown, Pa. — with permission from McDonald’s corporate, back in 1967. It would be released nationwide a year later.
A 21-year-old secretary in the advertising department named the Big Mac
Esther Glickstein Rose reportedly tossed out the now-famous name after an executive headed into a board meeting asked her what she would name the new burger. It wasn’t until 1985 that Rose received official recognition.
Every second, 75 McDonald’s hamburgers are sold
According to USA Today, McDonald’s was selling approximately 75 burgers every second, back in 2013 — that’s 4,500 per minute.
A plain McDonald’s hamburger is an excellent source of protein
McDonald’s may not be the healthiest place to eat, but a plain hamburger contains a whopping 25% of your daily value in protein — and just 250 calories, BI reported.
Happy Meals used to have a very different name — and used to include dessert
Taking the kids out for a “Menu Ronald” doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, but that’s how it all started.
The idea for the child-pleasing combo reportedly came from McDonald’s employee Yolanda Fernández de Cofiño, who developed the concept at a Golden Arches in Guatemala, according to BI.
Happy Meals were on the menu by 1979 — the first one was circus-themed.
Later, the sundae would be swapped out for a plastic toy.
In 2021, the company announced they would be manufacturing their toys from “renewable, recycled, or certified materials,” in an effort to be more environmentally conscious.