wagner (11/26/82)
*****PLEASE***** lets move this mcdonalds topic to net.misc before it clutters up general/followup like the McWopper discussion did! Thanks. Michael Wagner, UTCS
pcmcgeer (11/26/82)
According to Ray Kroc's autoboigraphy, the first MacDonald's was opened in 1953(?) somewhere in Southern California. Kroc didn't run it - at the time, he was the national salesman for multi-mixers. In any case, he heard of MacDonald's because they had *five* of the things - so he went to see the place, discovered that they made marvellous fries, bought the brothers who ran the place out and made several million.... Rick,
rosin (11/29/82)
(I saw an article in print on the first McDonalds on Wednesday or Friday last. The following is based on my recollection only.) The first McDonalds was opened about 30 years ago in suburban Chicago (actually Des Plaines, IL as I recall) when Ray Crock bought the rights to the name from some brothers in LA. The outlet has undergone several remodleings over the years, and it was recently replaced by a new, spiffy McD's across the street. The town would like to retain it as an historic site, but McD's says it is so different from the old "red and whites" (remember???) and, since there are other red and whites still operating that will be preserved, they chose merely to erect a plaque and close the place down. A personal note - back in 1959 or 1960 a highschool chum of mine, who had spent 2 years reading comic books while in the US Army in Germany, got out of Purdue with an MA in psychology. He found a job as personnel manager for a brand new hamburger chain - sort of a joke as far as his pals were concerned.,Last I heard, Jim was "vice president - innovation" for that chain - McDonalds. The joke was on us! Bob Rosin, BTL, Lincroft, NJ, 201-576-3549, ...!houxi!hounx!rosin (that's "houxn", not "hounx")
rcj (12/01/82)
Since I assume that Ray Krok was not lying in his autobiography, I will have to offer apologies for my earlier article explaining the start of McDonald's. I plead innocence -- I was only reiterating the propoganda that I was told when I worked for the place. The MAD Programmer (alias Curtis Jackson) Western Electric - Burlington, NC (919) 228-3814 or Cornet 291
ark (12/02/82)
Isn't it spelled "Ray Kroc" ?
furuta (12/05/82)
The location of this first McDonalds (the one in California) was San Bernardino. Perhaps there's some confusion between the original shop and the first franchise. I grew up in Riverside, CA, which is 7 miles from San Bernardino and every now and then the local paper would run a story and picture of this McDonalds. --Rick