<P> This history of McDonald's is an overview of the original restaurant and of the chain . </P> <P> The McDonald family moved from Manchester, New Hampshire to Hollywood, California in the late 1930s, where brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald began working as set movers and handymen at Motion - Picture studios . In 1937, their father Patrick McDonald opened "The Airdrome", a food stand, on Huntington Drive (Route 66) near the Monrovia Airport in the Los Angeles County city of Monrovia, California with hot dogs being one of the first items sold . Hamburgers were later added to the menu at a cost of ten cents with all - you - can - drink orange juice at five cents . In 1940, Maurice and Richard ("Mac" and "Dick") moved the entire building 40 miles (64 km) east, to West 14th and 1398 North E Streets in San Bernardino, California . The restaurant was renamed "McDonald's Bar - B - Que" and had 25 menu items, mostly barbecue . </P> <P> In October 1948, after the McDonald brothers realized that most of their profits came from selling hamburgers, they closed down their successful carhop drive - in to establish a streamlined system with a simple menu which consisted of only hamburgers, cheeseburgers, potato chips, coffee, soft drinks, and apple pie . After the first year, potato chips and pie were swapped out for french fries and milkshakes . The carhops were eliminated, making the new restaurant a self - service operation . Richard and Maurice took great care in setting up their kitchen like an assembly line to ensure maximum efficiency . The restaurant's name was changed again, this time to simply "McDonald's," and reopened on December 12, 1948 . </P> <P> In April 1952, the brothers decided they needed an entirely new building in order to achieve two goals: further efficiency improvements, and a more eye - catching appearance . They collected recommendations for an architect and interviewed at least four, finally choosing Stanley Clark Meston, an architect practicing in nearby Fontana . The brothers and Meston worked together closely in the design of their new building . They achieved the extra efficiencies they needed by, among other things, drawing the actual measurements of every piece of equipment in chalk on a tennis court behind the McDonald house (with Meston's assistant Charles Fish). The new restaurant's design achieved a high level of noticeability thanks to gleaming surfaces of red and white ceramic tile, stainless steel, brightly colored sheet metal, and glass; pulsing red, white, yellow, and green neon; and two 25 - foot yellow sheet - metal arches trimmed in neon, called "golden arches" even at the design stage . A third, smaller arch sign at the roadside hosted a pudgy character in a chef's hat, known as Speedee, striding across the top, trimmed in animated neon . Further marketing techniques were implemented to change McDonald's from a sit down restaurant to a fast food chain . They used such things as turning off the heating to prevent people wanting to stay so long, fixed and angled seating so the customer would sit over their food promoting them to eat faster, spreading the seats further apart so being less of a sociable place to dine in, and giving their customers branded cone shaped cups forcing them to hold their drink whilst eating which would speed up the eating process . Many other companies followed McDonald's strategies to turn their own restaurants into fast food establishments including Burger King, White Castle and Subway . </P>

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