THE FIRST McDONALD'S OPENS IN SAN BERNADINO

Californians get a taste for fast food on the go and two brothers make their fortune.

North E Street in San Bernardino, California doesn’t look like much: a bland, sun-baked stretch of west coast suburbia, lined with strip malls and drive-ins. But when you get to No. 1398, you see it – a hamburger restaurant. Or rather, the hamburger restaurant, the first of 36,615 outlets of one of the world’s most famous brands.

The date was 15 May 1940. Europe was in flames, but in California the engine of economic recovery was beginning to roar after the ordeal of the Depression. In San Bernardino, part of the great sprawl stretching inland from Los Angeles, two brothers threw open the doors of their new fast food restaurant: McDonald’s Bar-B-Q.

Richard and Maurice McDonald had already opened a drive-in hot dog stand in nearby Arcadia. Now they opened up another outlet, this time specialising in barbecue.

There was now here to sit; you just drove up, placed your order from the simple 25-item menu at the counter, and then went off with your food. Speed was the whole point. This was the age of the automobile.What was more, this was southern California, where everybody – or almost everybody – had a car.

It was a resounding success. By 1948 the two brothers had streamlined the operation, cutting out much of the barbecue, changing the name to McDonald’s and specialising in hamburgers.

Five years later, the pair began looking for franchise partners, with the first new outlet opening in Phoenix, Arizona. In 1961 they cashed in, selling their stake to Ray Kroc for $2.7m. They could have held out for more. But, perhaps ironically, they weren’t greedy.

In "BBC History Magazine", UK, May 2017, excerpt p.6. Adapted and illustrated by Leopoldo Costa