The innovative quick service restaurant concept pioneered by Dick and Mac McDonald in San Bernadino, CA has evolved into the world's largest food service organization serving millions of customers a day across countries. .
The McDonald's Corporation story starts with our founder, Ray Kroc, and continues with the McDonald's "family" of employees, franchisees and suppliers. Many of our early pioneers, like Ray, are gone; but their memories and accomplishments, along with the living history of the McDonald's System, live on today at McDonald's restaurants across the world. .
Ray Kroc mortgaged his home and invested his entire life savings to become the exclusive distributor of a five-spindled milk shake maker called the Multimixer. Hearing about the McDonald's hamburger stand in California running eight Multimixers at a time, he packed up his car and headed West. It was 1954. He was 52 years old.
Ray Kroc had never seen so many people served so quickly when he pulled up to take a look. Seizing the day, he pitched the idea of opening up several restaurants to the brothers Dick and Mac McDonald, convinced that he could sell eight of his Multimixers to each and every one. "Who could we get to open them for us?" Dick McDonald said. .
"Well," Kroc answered, "what about me?" .
Ray Kroc opened the Des Plaines restaurant in 1955. First day's revenues-$366.12! No longer a functioning restaurant, the Des Plaines building is now a museum containing McDonald's memorabilia and artifacts, including the Multimixer! .
The smile known around the world," Ronald McDonald is second only to Santa Claus in terms of recognition. In his first TV appearance in 1963 the happy clown was portrayed by none other than Willard Scott.
In 1965 McDonald's went public with the company's first offering on the stock exchange. A hundred shares of stock costing $2,250 dollars that day would have multiplied into 74,360 shares today, worth over $2.