History of McDonald’s Day
The very first McDonald’s restaurant was opened by New Hampshire brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald on May 15, 1940, in San Bernardino, California. The McDonald brothers started by serving slow-cooked barbecue, and the business took off quickly. They later found out that 80% of their sales were from hamburgers, so they closed it for three months. They then remodeled it as a self-service restaurant, where customers placed their orders at the windows. It is said that they simplified their menu to just nine: hamburgers, cheeseburgers, three flavors of soft drink, milk, coffee, potato chips, and pie.
The McDonald’s brothers developed the “Speedee Service System,” allowing them to prepare the food quickly. All their hamburgers contained ketchup, mustard, onions, and two pickles. Although this newly remodeled McDonald’s struggled at first, once the brothers replaced potato chips with french fries and introduced triple thick milkshakes, the business started to grow again. In the early 1950s, they saw their profits double. They then established several franchises in California and Arizona. Ray Kroc, a milkshake mixer salesman, visited them in 1954, wondering why McDonald’s would order eight of his multimixers.
Once Kroc knew about McDonald’s restaurant operation, he saw potential in it. He then bought the rights to franchise the brothers’ restaurant across the country. He opened his first McDonald’s franchised restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois, in 1955. But, their relationship was contentious due to philosophies that differ on how to run the business. Kroc later purchased the company from the McDonald brothers in 1961. The brothers who lent their name to the business and were pioneers of the business concept gradually faded to the background. They kept their original San Bernardino restaurant until they were out of business eventually.
