Story of McDonald's only half told
Apr. 18, 2005 12:00 AM
The story on McDonald's in Friday's business section ("McDonald's serves up 50 years") is not the full story of McDonald's, but only the account after Ray Kroc bought out the McDonald brothers hamburger stand.
The McDonald brothers had their hamburger drive-in restaurant in San Bernardino in the late 1940s. Ray Kroc was employed by a milk shake equipment company in Chicago and wondered why this lonely drive-in was buying so many milk shake blenders.
After investigating, he bought into the operation and eventually bought out the two brothers, one of whom was Ronald. He then began expanding and franchising. advertisement
I assume the story you ran originated from publicity furnished by the corporate offices of the now-huge McDonald's chain. I'm certain that if Ray Kroc were alive today the actual origination of the company would have been furnished.
It's a shame the present corporation doesn't seem to recognize the real beginnings. It really is a fascinating story that belongs to American ingenuity.
I met Roger McDonald when I worked on the Sun Telegram in San Bernardino in the early 1960s. The city is proud of its role in the McDonald's empire, and rightly so. - Ed Horst, Sun Lakes