Route 66 in the News
Route 66, Hamburgers, and San Bernardino
2005-04-15 17:08:43
In 1948, two brothers opened a hamburger joint in San Bernardino. Their plan was to keep it simple and serve it fast.
Four years later, Richard and Maurice "Mac" McDonald were selling a million burgers a year from their restaurant on E Street, then part of Route 66.
When Ray Kroc, then a milk-shake machine salesman heard the brothers wanted to order 10 machines, he had to visit the stand to see what they were doing for himself.
After seeing the McDonald brothers' method of preparing food, called the Speedee Service System, he decided it could be replicated all over the country.
Kroc formed a partnership with the brothers before buying them out in 1961. And Kroc took the business to places that weren't so sunny and warm.
"Everybody thought they would never be able to do in Illinois what they did in California, that people wouldn't get out of their cars in January," said Philip Langdon, author of the book "Orange Roofs, Golden Arches" about chain restaurants.
Now the Golden Arches are everywhere -- and it started 50 years ago Friday, when Kroc opened his first McDonald's in a Chicago suburb and began turning a small chain of hamburger stands into an empire that would include 30,000 restaurants, serve 50 million people a day, and become a symbol of the United States all over the world.
"It is one of those few businesses that transcend selling products and services," said Edward Zajac, a professor at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. "They are kind of a slice of the U.S., like Coca Cola."
People flocked to Kroc's first McDonald's. With Kroc watching, and sometimes carrying a putty knife to scrape gum off the sidewalk, they lined up to order 15-cent burgers and 10-cent fries. Or simply stood outside watching the all-male staff -- Kroc wanted his employees thinking only about burgers and fries -- prepare food assembly-line style.
"They were going like crazy."
Kroc, who died in 1984, understood something else: Many people don't like surprises. He insisted his restaurants look the same, serve the same food and follow the same grill and fryer procedures, offering customers the same experience whether in Boston or Budapest.
"I know executives who go to Singapore and China and wherever . . . and they end up eating at McDonald's," Zajac said. "The reason they do it is they want to know what they are going to get."
Another reason for McDonald's success: It was well-positioned for America's changing lifestyle.
In the 1950s, as more Americans were climbing into cars, McDonald's was there to satisfy the demands of a busier, more mobile country.
Later, as more women went to work and mothers were increasingly hustling kids to after-school events, McDonald's told busy parents: "You Deserve a Break Today."
Sara Moulton, host of Sara's Secrets on the Food Network, executive chef of Gourmet magazine and food editor for "Good Morning America," said the folks at McDonald's "understand that Americans are totally into bigger is better."
It is a formula that still works, despite recent dips. After several years of stagnant U.S. sales and its first-ever quarterly loss in 2002, McDonald's has been surging for the past two years. Its profits jumped 55 percent in 2004 from the year before to $2.28 billion.
On Wednesday, the company predicted it will report a first-quarter profit above Wall Street estimates, citing particularly strong March sales.
~Don Babwin, Associated Press
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