The Micky D's of my youth, the only game in town. There was no $1 menu. There was no need for one, most items were priced well under $1. There were no fru fru coffee beverages, no super sized this or thats, no value meals.
At my house dinner at McDonalds was a treat, a special occasion. It happened maybe two or three times/year. I loved the salty fries and the cheese oozing between the two halves of the bun. I even liked the pickle.
As a teen it was the local hang-out. Friday and Saturday nights everyone who was anyone in teendom could be found in the parking lot of McDonald's. It was also groovy to cruise the lot just to see and be seen before moving on.
And then along came the Burger King who invited us all to "have it your way" and everything changed. Burger joints of all shapes and sizes sprang up on every street corner in town. Ronald McDonald was born and the focus was on bigger and better and beating the competition. The golden arches were updated, reduced to yellow eyebrows in new and improved building designs. The menu expanded and Happy Meals and playgrounds began to entice families with young children instead of teens in hot rods.
Dinner at McDonald's is no longer special. It is no longer a treat on a cold winter evening. It has become a quick stop for an unhealthy meal eaten in haste on the way to somewhere. But every once in awhile when I see one these.
I remember the way it was.
4 comments:
Very cool retro photo. Yep, I remember the first one in Ann Arbor. It was a big deal. Sometimes new is better - e.g., the Oreo McFlurry.
I sometimes take Wm to McD's on his days off from school, where ad hoc groups of kids who haven't known each other before make up games to play on the equipment, and then sit at the tables and play games with each other on their Nintendo DS machines. Waiting for all this to play out is when I'm reduced to taking pictures of my purse, and the table and chair hardware! It's also very hard on your ears!
wow, makes me go way back. there use to be a McDonald's like this on Memorial Parkway at Drake, but it has gone by the wayside. Thanks for the memories!
So sad are we for the days of old! I too, remember the McDonald's in the picture! Fast food was a treat for us too. Tim and I had our first date at the original McD's on the parkway, who lost it's original sign at the last remodel. I'm not sure if I should call it a remodel, because they tore it completely down and built a new one. I did love the trip down memory lane!! Thanks for sharing!! God Bless! Love Ya.
There is a band new, retro McD's in our town. I was very excited to go there after it reopened (it was "remodeled" from an old but newer McD's - got that?). And extremely disappointed when I stepped inside and felt like I was in Panera Bread! I haven't been inside since - though I do use the drive-through. Our McD's treat growing up was to go there after church - once or twice a year, as you say! And I do remember those cruisin' days!
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