In the 1930s, the McDonalds family moved from Manchester, New Hampshire to Hollywood, where Maurice and his brother Maurice worked as handymen at the Motion Picture studios. In 1937, their father Patrick McDonald opened a food stand near the Monrovia airport selling only hot dogs at first. Later, hamburgers were added to the menu for ten cents each or 50 cents with all you can drink orange juice. In the 1940s, Maurice and Richard took over the business and moved it to San Bernardino. There, they rebranded to "McDonald's Bar-B-Que" restaurant selling twenty-five menu items mostly barbecue. Then in 1948, they found out that most of their profits came from the burgers and not the barbecue. So, they once again closed their restaurant and turned the place into what we now know as McDonald's. The first year, they sold only hamburgers, cheeseburgers, potato chips, coffee, soft drinks and apple pie. The following year, the brothers found out that customers did not enjoy the options of potato chips and apple pies. Therefore, they replace the two items with french fries and milkshakes, America's favorites.Advertisement
Notably, one of the most successful periods of McDonald's was during the 1960s where they started the "Look for the Golden Arches" campaign. During this time, the ad was very noticeable and has forever played a key role in the McDonald's corporation. During the year 1962, the company sold its millionth hamburger and also introduced Ronald McDonald, the red-haired clown, who was designed to appeal to children. The 1960s was also crucial to the success of McDonald's thanks to the growth of automobile usage. The automobiles came with suburbanization and contributed heavily to the success of the business. In the early 60s, Kroc bought the company from the McDonalds brothers for 2.7 million dollars. He aimed to make McDonald's the number one fast-food chain in the country. In 1963, franchises were being built in Detroit and in 1965, the corporation went public. Common shares were offered at 22.50 dollars per share. By the end of the first day, the price has risen to 30 dollars. A block of 100 shares purchased for 2,250 dollars in 1965 is worth over 5.7 million dollars as of the end of 2010.Bibliography:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_McDonald%27s
http://flashbak.com/you-deserve-a-break-today-1960s-1980s-mcdonalds-history-in-advertising-29820/
It's crazy to think that McDonald's – the biggest fast food franchise – all started from a simple food stand. It was interesting to learn about how the franchise grew and expanded over time. I like how you connected the fats growth of fast food chains across the nation to the popularization of automobiles which allowed them to grow with the use of drive through sales.
ReplyDeleteVery Interesting! It is great to know how one of the most poplar fast food places came to be. It would also be interesting to see how this contributed to obesity in America.
ReplyDeleteIts interesting to hear the interesting of McDonald's changing to meet consumer demand. After multiple closing, they finally settled on the iconic burger, fries, and shake. Something that made McDonalds such a phenomenon, even before Ray Kroc really expanded it, was the cooking process was almost mechanical. Everything was ready to go in a short amount of time. That is why the "Golden Arches" are often credited for launching the fast food industry into relevance.
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