Here’s What McDonald’s Looked Like When It First Opened In 1955
Updated: Jun. 08, 2023
The massive fast food restaurant chain had a humble beginning.
The first official restaurant
Currently, there are over 36,000 McDonald’s restaurants around the world, but the franchise started out as a tiny establishment. The McDonald brothers, Dick and Mac, opened the first “McDonald’s” in San Bernardino, California in 1948. The menu included hamburgers, soft drinks, pie, French fries, milk, coffee and milkshakes. Ray Kroc, a traveling salesman, visited the store and became fascinated with the operation. The brothers expressed that they wanted to expand nationwide, and Kroc signed on as their first franchise agent in 1954. Kroc opened up the first restaurant for McDonald’s System, Inc. on April 15, 1955, in Des Plaines, Illinois. That store is pictured above.
Starting a franchise comes with a lot of change, check out what the McDonald’s menu looked like the year you were born.
The original architecture
Soon, McDonald’s started popping up all over the United States. The McDonald brothers wanted the design of the building to highlight their Speedee Service System—what we call fast food. Customers were serviced at large windows in the front of the building. The exterior of the first restaurants was red and white with two golden arches on the side to make the roof look less flat. One of the last standing red and white McDonald’s still serves your favorite McDonald’s treats in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania.
Older uniforms
McDonald’s staff working in the kitchen in 1974. Their uniforms have changed a lot over the years, especially the hats. The menu has changed a lot too! Here’s how the Happy Meal has progressed.
Paper menus
This McDonald’s menu from 1977 shows how different the restaurants display their food options today. Today, many have digital screens that rotate images to show all the options on their menu.
New design
In 1969 McDonald’s switched the structure of their restaurants to feature the Mansard Roof. The design is featured on the first franchise that opened in Moscow, Russia in 1990. Crowds line up outside to get their first taste of a Big Mac.
To learn more about the chain, check out these mind-blowing facts about McDonald’s.
