Trevor Summons of the San Bernardino County Sun has an interesting article about the original McDonald’s restaurant at 14th and E streets in San Bernardino, Calif.
Situated on Route 66 – it is in fact the business loop of the famous road – McDonald’s was originally brought there on a flatbed from Arcadia. The two brothers, Dick and Maurice “Mac” McDonald, opened their first place on this site in 1940 selling mostly barbecue items. By 1948 they were successful but tired of the problems of running such a big restaurant.
They switched their focus to selling hamburgers and fries for 15 cents and 10 cents respectively. What a blessing for the tired occupants of the post-WWII vehicles on their way along the Mother Road. No wonder the place boomed.
Now my plaque would not be placed at this famous site but rather across the street. This is where the true miracle happened. For this is where a salesman from Chicago happened to park in order to sell some drink-mixing equipment to the two brothers. It was in 1954, and he sat in his car watching the activity at the restaurant. It was then he had an epiphany. His name was Ray Kroc, and it was he who took the idea of fast food and franchised it not just back to Des Plaines, Ill., which was his first location, but eventually around the world.
By 1961, he had paid the McDonald brothers $2.7 million, and the whole empire was his.
The original McDonald’s is now a museum jammed with the chain’s memorabilia, along with Route 66 items. It’s owned by Albert Okura, who owns the Juan Pollo restaurant chain in Southern California and is best-known to roadies as the owner of Roy’s and the Route 66 town on which it sits, Amboy, Calif.