The 2010 calendar in my office is from The Economist. It is quite colorful and full of little tidbits of information and has, on more than one occasion, provided me with ideas for this blog.
The entry on the calendar for today is “1st McDonald’s Opens, San Bernardino, California, 1940.” Those of you who may be familiar with the Ray Kroc story – he opened his first McDonald’s in 1955 in Des Plaines, Illinois – may find this discrepancy confusing. The story prior to Ray is one I found rather interesting.
The brothers Richard (Dick) and Maurice (Mac) McDonald moved from New Hampshire to California, attracted by the motion picture industry where they worked as stage hands. Wanting to start their own business they first opened a movie theater. When they were not able to make a profit they moved on to their next venture – a drive-in restaurant near Pasadena. The primary menu offering was hotdogs.
On May 15, 1940 McDonald’s Bar-B-Que restaurant was opened in San Bernardino. The restaurant had carhops serving guests and would often see 125 cars crowding the lot on weekends. They quickly saw their annual sales topping $200,000 on a regular basis.