The Secret History Of The First

McDonald's

By: Brandon Rich (Dec 3, 2021)

When it comes to ideas that changed the landscape of American eating, few have been as impactful as the idea for McDonald's. The chain restaurant is an international powerhouse. The corporate offices quote McDonald's at having topped 38,000 locations around the world, with over 210,000 employees and 69 million meals served every day. In some people's perspective, the famed Golden Arches of McDonald's and their mascot Ronald McDonald are "bigger than Jesus." No matter who holds more sway these days, Jesus and McDonald's have something in common: Both come from humble origins — although the history of McDonald's may be the more secret and less straightforward of the two.

The first McDonald's was founded by two brothers, Maurice (Mac) and Richard (Dick) McDonald in the mid-1940s. The siblings established their business in southern California, though history shows it wouldn't stay there for long. Over the years, the family-named stand went through several different phases before evolving into an operation that would be copied worldwide. Before that could happen, the McDonalds would need to join up with a slick salesman from Chicago (and invent the first scalable fast food business model. Then, their claim to the "original McDonald's" would be challenged. How did they do it all, and what became of their first burger shop? This is the history of the first McDonald's.

The first McDonald's food was cooked in a movie theater

Long before the concept for America's most iconic restaurant chain was cooked up, Mac and Richard McDonald were working on the first of countless burgers that would eventually be grilled in their name. As journalist Lisa Napoli details in her book, "Ray & Joan: The Man Who Made the McDonald's Fortune and the Woman Who Gave It All Away," the brothers McDonald had not come to California to cook. They had arrived to be movie moguls. After years of excruciating labor as crew hands in the studios, Mac and Dick decided to try their luck at screening films instead of working on them. They bought a theater and named it the Beacon. It was at the Beacon where the brothers first experienced food service.

Operating a movie theater is a tough, lean business. So the McDonalds had to come up with a clever and simple way to save and make money. Step one? Keeping guests from bringing their own food into the movies and newsreel screenings. Napoli writes that the McDonalds installed a concession stand and began selling their own food. Eventually, the Great Depression caused the Beacon to shutter. The brothers would then leverage their snack bar skills to really enter the world of foodservice.

The first McDonald's was a hot dog business

Even with the difficulties of running a movie theater during economic turndowns, Mac and Dick knew that people would always need to eat. Close to the Airdrome was a small airport that often attracted travelers looking for free entertainment. After watching airplane traffic, folks would arrive at the Airdrome to consume inexpensive hot dogs and refreshing orange drinks. As Lisa Napoli writes for The Smithsonian Magazine, the Airdrome was popular enough to inspire the brothers further towards the restaurant industry.

Hot dogs have played an amusing part in McDonald's history since the beginning. Their success with selling frankfurters would help fuel Mac and Dick's ambition to be restaurateurs. (Decades later, the McHot Dog would end up being one of the brand's biggest flops.) Additionally, the building where the McDonald brothers had success selling hot dogs would end up being the home of the very first McDonald's restaurant. Only once they were outside the hot dog business did the brothers find success selling beef.

The brother's Airdome restaurant became McDonald's Bar-B-Q

Having found success in selling food, the McDonald brothers decided to expand their business by moving yet again. The Smithsonian Magazine writes that Dick and Mac took their operation to a small California town called San Bernardino. Here, they reconstructed the shell of the Airdrome, which they had cut in half and moved across the state. The brothers hadn't done all this to continue selling hot dogs.

Upon moving the Airdrome to "San Berdoo," Maurice and Richard opened their very first namesake restaurant, known as McDonald's Bar-B-Q  (or Bar-B-Que depending on where you look). Yes, the restaurant served actual barbecue dishes, and no, the McRib was not one of them. That sort of special has been decades in the making (per The Atlantic).

The Library of Congress details how the first McDonald's location was as busy as any current-day neighborhood Mac Shack on a weekend evening, sometimes serving up to 125 cars a night. World War II made things tight for the food counter, but eventually, it was stiff competition in the food business which disrupted the McDonalds' early success and sent them back to the drawing board.

The barbeque restaurant closed to make way for a burger operation

In the middle of experiencing success with McDonald's BBQ, brother's Dick and Mac did something that was at once both daring and dangerous. They closed the doors of their shop. They wanted to reevaluate how their business could be better. America was rebounding from the stark conditions of World War II, and eateries now dotted the California landscape. The McDonald brothers had a goal to distinguish their service from other restaurants and to play a big role in the economic boom.