I used to watch McDonalds make their own fries with real potatoes put the potato in and push the lever down . are the ones you get now fake? lol 15 cent burgers They used to weigh the fries after filling and you could never sit inside to go only or sit in your car. That was the transition to having a car hop come to you like A&W. We have Swensons hamburgs they run to your car to take order super good !!
Are you meaning the days when the Mcdonald brothers had it and sold the first restaurant to Ray Kroc?
When I was in the Cub Scouts we went to McDonalds as a field trip. Got a tour of the restaurant and they showed us how everything was made. This was in the late-sixties and they were still making fries with fresh potatoes - straight out of the bag, sliced and fried. They also had a dining room. After the tour we each got a hamburger, fries and a drink. First time I ever ate at McDonalds.
Brings back some good memory's I hope My oldest sister brought me to Mcdonalds for the first time probably around the same time. I ate TWO Big Mac's and big fries and big shake. I think I was close around 7 years old. I wasn't a fat kid maby a little chubby. Out here the Mcdonalds don't have those super thick shakes anymore. They were awsome WTH?? You had to suck so hard at first and we all cheated with taking the cover off and licking the straw They have these stupid Mc flurrys now. Why in the world would they stop selling a money maker like that? Vanilla was my favorite but did the chocolate time to time.
not sure if this is still current, but in the effort to insure uniformity, Ray Kroc insisted that all his fries were made of the same potatoes.. They bought the potatoes from the same farms in Idaho, processed them in huge plant, flash froze and distributed them to all their franchises world wide. I saw this on a episode of the History Channel show "Modern Marvels" some years ago. JW
See, this guy remembers when they used real potatoes lol real ha ha I would watch them in the windows where the seats were. There was no place to eat inside you ate on the outside on a long tile bench on each side of the building and you could look in the windows and watch them work. That was where I would watch them stick the potato in a machine and push down with lever and the fries came out the bottom. This had to be around 1965 or so burger 15 cents gas 25 cents 1 dollar to get a complete chicken dinner with fries cole slaw and hot rice 4 piece dinner with white meat. chicken capital of world Barberton Ohio. and you young guys thought you had it better now, hah.
Mcdonalds with a chicken dinner, cole slaw and rice? Had to be in the early days then? My friend went to collage in CT and they had some different things on the menu. They cater to the community and in a area in CT where there was a strong Black population they had the McRib and I believe cole slaw. The McRib came to my area for a short time but didn't last. It might of tasted good on the first 3 bites but soon you realized it was a pure mooshed meat that was formed to look like pork ribs. I'm curious to see what others around the country have come across at there Mcdonalds. The Filet O Fish was brilliant as it came out for Ash-Good Friday years later.
I think mark Knopfler wrote a song about McDonald’s at least it seems that way to me listen to it and tell me what you think
If your interested, you can read all about Mcdonalds History here.. https://corporate.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/our-company/who-we-are/our-history.html JW
Nice, wow was I off though. I thought it was Ray Kroc who opened the multiple restaurants and gave the option of franchising them..
Actually the McDonald brothers started that in California.. I did not know that either, till I saw the movie "the Founder" which is about Ray Kroc's life. Kroc first worked with the McDonald brothers, to open franchises across the USA, and basically defined the Corporate/Franchisee relationship. So you weren't far off, he was the "founder" of the McDonalds franchise as we know it today. Kroc targeted his hometown, the Chicago area, for the first MacDonalds restaurants outside of CA. His Des Plaines location opened in 1955 and was followed by several others in the greater Chicago area thru the early 60's.. Minneapolis was actually the second area they moved into, and the first where they had real Franchisees running the restaurants. Kroc was involved in the creation and day to day operations of the Chicago area stores in the mid 50's.. The store on Snelling Avenue in the St Paul suburb of Roseville, MN open in Sept of 1957. The success of that store and several others that opened that year, showed potential owners that they could in fact succeed on their own, with only minimal corporate involvement. That being spec'ing the building and supplying the food and other items needed to maintain uniformity.. This fueled the national and then international creation of privately owned, franchised McDonalds restaurants, with explosive expansion rates in the mid 60's thru the mid 70's. Expansion slowed somewhat in the 80's, as fast food choices split the available market place, and as fast food started to fall out of favor with portions of the general public, but has continued steadily right up the the 38,000 worldwide locations today. Ray Kroc bought out the brothers in 1961 and formed the McDonalds corporation. He paid 2.7 million for basically the rights to use the name, and the "speedy system" of food prep..(23.6 Million today) a princely sum at the time, remember there where only just over 200 stores open in '61. But under his aggressive leadership, that number more than doubled to 500, just two years later. He also opened Hamburger University in Chicago in 1961, to teach Franchisees how to run a McDonalds, in the way that Ray Kroc wanted. As they expanded in the late 50's, Kroc had found MacDonalds restaurants selling everything from Tacos to Seafood.. Kroc demanded they conform to the corporate menu, or risk losing their Franchise. Most of the folks that signed those papers did not see the clause that dictated their menu, with no deviations that were not approved by corporate. Kroc was seen as ruthless, and demanding, which, by all accounts, he was.. but it was also these qualities that built the first successful world wide Fast food Chain. He knew that consistent menu options, and food quality was the key to success. The experience of stopping at a MacDonalds had to be uniform world wide. From the building, to the food and right down to the uniforms the employees wore. It was considered a unique culture that they actually taught at Hamburger University. That ethos lives thru today. But he was also smart enough to know a good thing when he saw it, and many of what we consider the "bedrock" Menu items were actually created in local restaurants around the country, presented to Kroc, who approved them, often with a tweak or two, and then added them to the nationwide menu. The Big Mac, named by one of his secretaries, was one of them, along with the Filet o'Fish, The Happy Meal, and the Egg McMuffin, just to name a few. Corporate also came up with some of it, as Kroc employed a French Chef to improve the menu in the 70's and 80's... The McNugget, introduced in 1983, was the product of Corporate R&D, in which Kroc held final approval, for not only taste, but even the shape of the nugget, and the dipping sauces. After they had the product, they contracted Tyson foods to mass produce it. Today, they sell over 2500 lbs of chicken every 2 minutes.. amazing.. The McNugget was such a success, it caused a chicken shortage, into which the "McRib" was created to fill the gap, for franchisees who could not get nuggets. I find the story of McDonalds a fascinating example of a true American Success story. I don't eat there that often anymore, maybe a couple times a month, but it is comforting to know that they will always be there, and will always be the same. JW As much as I enjoy history, I also like Trivia.. here's one for ya' Q. The MacDonald Brothers re-opened their restaurant in 1948, as a burger joint, after inventing the "speedy system" of food preparation. What Item was not on the menu? A. French Fries.. They came along in 1949, replacing potato chips on the 9 item menu.
I had a part time job at McDonald's in 1965.The spuds were put in a tumbler with an abrasive interior that peeled off most of the skin. Then, we would spear a skinned potato with a large three tined metal fork and put it vertically in a press with an open box web of sharp metal on the bottom. Then, pull down a lever that pressed the potato through the box web on the bottom. Voila! French fries. Then we would put a set amount of potatoes in a fryer basket and blanche (half cooked) them and put the fryer basket of blanched potatoes on a stainless rack. And repeat the process until there were enough ready to go for a rush. When needed, they were dropped in the fryer and bingo! Fresh, hot, consistent fries! The bagged potatoes Jim speaks about came later. They were a thick potato paste that was made of real pulverized potato that was put in a blender, then extruded by a machine and frozen. No potato skins like the original. The milk shakes were made from soft serve ice cream that had flavored syrup added and hand spun . We could have 4/6 going at once. No sit down. Order at the window. No extra ketchup, etc. Sit in the car and dine. Summertime mornings were rough on those of us who came in early. The building was the top of a"T". The vertical portion of the "T" was a raised divider concrete "island" that ran the from the top of the "T". Cars would pull up and park on either side of the concrete divider. Spaced along the divider were trash cans with domed tops. The sweet cola syrup and ketchup would attract sweat bees and wasps who would swarm around the trash cans. Reaching in and pulling out the trash liners did not please the bees. Ouch!
Oh yes "The Founder" I remember seeing promos of it on TV. Totally forgot about it. Googling it says it is a very accurate story. Now I have to see it.. I remember the old way they wrapped the Big Macs in paper and then the round card stock band around it. All the burgers had a different color wrapping. The wrapping was a huge success wasn't it. Just seeing them on the shoot they put them in made me excited. As a kid my parents didn't like me eating there but let me at least 10 times a year, so the craving and excitement never faded. The link was good Jim but wondering when the Ronald Mcdonald clown came to be. I guess the childrens play pen was build way earlier at some Mid States. I can see the movie for free on my cable company. I recall reading that 1/2 or maby more people in the US worked there at some point. Also the over 5 billion served signs was said to be impossible, who knows?
I'm not generally a breakfast guy except for a locally owned restaurant on weekends, but if you haven't tried it yet, Wendy's has some pretty great breakfast sandwiches now. A couple are on sale for a buck and absolutely delicious.
Every fast food place is jumping on the breakfast items as it should. Thing is my closest Wendy's doesn't open to 11:00 I think? JW, i'm 22 minutes into the movie The Founder and the Mcdonalds brothers are telling the story to Ray Kroc to where they went to a tennis court with chalk to mock a outline of the new stores blue prints.. Brilliant!
Went all in for my Christmas breakfast today. Hash browns, diced onions, red pepper, celery, and some locally produced Polish Pepperoni. Once they were almost done, added 8 lightly scrambled eggs. Great thing is this keeps well for tomorrow and maybe Monday. While cooking and ready to eat!! Yum yum
Always get hungry looking at this threadand Buick guys that cook We over did the amount of breakfast this morning. Heck Hugger would have even been full
