Early McDonalds menu: The drive-in with the arches (1950s)
McDonald’s Amazing Menu
Pure Beef Hamburger: 15c
Tempting Cheeseburger: 19c
Triple-Thick Shakes: 20c
Golden French Fries: 10c
Thirst-Quenching Coke: 10c
Delightful Root Beer: 10c
Steaming Hot Coffee: 10c
Full-Flavor Orange Drink: 10c
Refreshing Cold Milk: 12c
Vintage McDonald’s menu from the 50s/early ’60s
You can taste the quality in every food on the McDonald’s menu
McDonald’s history & architecture
1960s: McDonald’s golden arches blend with the elegance of brick and cedar in this sophisticated new building design
Customers at tables in an old-school eating area
DON’T MISS: Vintage McDonald’s Shamrock Shake TV ads
Jimmy’s mother knows McDonald’s hamburgers are 100% beef (1969)
Ronald McDonald in clownface: No, he’s not scary at all
Back where “you want fries with that?” was said hundreds of times
Close-up: Old McDonald’s menu board from 1969
Hamburger: 20 cents
Cheeseburger 25 cents
Filet-o-Fish: 35 cents
Milk: 5 cents
Coffee: 15 cent
Vintage McDonald’s cashiers with paper hats & black bow ties
Scenes from vintage McDonald’s kitchens
The classic McDonald’s restaurant design in the late 1960s
Below the golden arches, the sign said “Over 5 billion served”
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Feed the family for four dollars (1972)
At McDonald’s, you get a Big Mac, fries, a chocolate shake, a cheeseburger, fries, a Coca-Cola, a fish sandwich, fries, an orange drink, a hamburger, fries and a strawberry shake. For less than $4.00.
Man does not live by bread alone (1973)
McDonald’s Quarter Pounder. The sandwich where the meat really takes over.
Outside dining tables at Mickey D’s
Little kids loved McDonald’s!
Kids hanging with Ronald McDonald and talking garbage cans
Scenes of indoor dining at vintage McDonald’s restaurants (1970s)
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’70s fast food around the world
Date night at the ol’ Mickey D’s
Taking the teacher out to dinner (1973)
Not long ago, one kind, one court jester, one witch, one damsel in distress, one villain, three peasants, one knight and shining armor and one dragon took their third grade teacher out to dinner.
Her Big Mac, fries and strawberry shake cost each of the kingdom’s subjects about eleven cents. A mere pittance.
A fish story that’s easy to swallow (1973)
McDonald’s Fish, Fry ‘n Pie Dinner.
Try out Filet O’Fish Sandwich — a flaky fish filet, special sauce and cheese on a tender bun. A large order of McDonald’s world-famous French fries. A hot apple pie. And a large soft drink. That’s McDonald’s Fish Fry & Pie Dinner. It’s a great fish story you’ll believe as soon as you taste.
Smile & say cheeseburger (1973)
ALSO SEE: McDonald’s introduced the Big Mac, then created a jingle for it that we couldn’t forget
At McDonald’s, we serve you the real thing (1973)
At McDonald’s, our policy is to serve you the best products we can. So to serve our great hamburgers with a second-class soft drink — well, we just wouldn’t have it. Coca-Cola — It’s the real thing.
Old-fashioned McDonald’s burgers from 1976
McD’s: Quality is makin’ it (1976)
Makin it with ground beef that’s 100% pure and leaner than most beef you buy at the store… Makin’ it with fish that’s U.S. government inspected… Makin it with potatoes that are U.S. #1…
Makin’ it with care and attention, so you always know what you’re getting… Makin’ it fast, so you get it good and hot… Makin’ it so good that you know McDonald’s is quality you can taste.
Good morning, America! Breakfast menu options in the ’70s
Retro McMuffins and breakfast platters
Old styrofoam containers, plus cups of coffee and orange juice
You deserve a break today
Forget about cooking. And washing dishes. And a hard day at the office. Or a hard day at anything. Get away to icy cold Coke, triple-thick shakes, our famous golden French Fries, Filet 0′ Fish Sandwiches, Hot Apple Pies, and big Big Macs.
Get up and get away to McDonald’s. It’s just the kind of break you deserve today. Or any day. So get up and get away to McDonald’s.
100% Pure beef. Pure pleasure. (1973)
That’s what you get in every Quarter Pounder with cheese sandwich. A lean and unmistakably good taste of 100% pure, domestic beef including cuts of chuck, round, and sirloin. No fillers. No additives. Simply pure lean beef, leaner than the ground beef most people buy.
And for cheese lovers, there’s not one, but two melted slices of our rich and golden cheese. All tucked into a freshly toasted, sesame seed bun. Its your Quarter Pounder with cheese. And we make it 100% for you.
McDonald’s food from the 1980s
Scenes from an old McDonald’s store in the eighties
Vintage McD play place for the kids, back when they had mini-merry-go-rounds.
ALSO SEE: Vintage KFC: About Colonel Sanders & the Kentucky Fried Chicken fast food chain’s history
McD Salads: Tossed fresh. Tossed crisp. Tossed all day long.
We start with fresh, crisp vegetables and greens. And we toss them together all day long. That’s how we make sure every salad you order is as fresh as we can make it.
Because experts agree vegetables and greens are at their nutritional best when they’re fresh. So at McDonald’s, you’ll find our Chef Salad, Chicken Salad Oriental and Garden Salad being tossed fresh, cool and crisp all day, every day.
Any other way just wouldn’t be as good. Or as good for you. For more information about our salads, and all our menu items, ask your McDonald’s Restaurant Manager, or call our Nutrition Information Center at (312) 575-FOOD. It’s a good time for the great taste of McDonald’s
Vintage ’80s McDonald’s: Our new food group.
We’ve got some very good reasons to call out three nutritious new salads our new food group.
Our crisp, tasty Chef Salad, Chicken Salad Oriental, and Garden Salad make it easier than ever to balance your meal at McDonald’s. They’re a fast, convenient way for you to include vegetables in your diet. They help you get more vitamins, minerals and nutrients.
And help your visit to McDonald’s fit nicely into your daily, weekly, and long-term diet planning. So next time order a salad with your meal. Or just order a salad. Either way is good for you. And fine with us.
For more information on our salads, and all your menu items, ask your McDonald’s Restaurant Manager. Or call our Nutrition Information Center at (312) 575-FOOD.
It’s a good time for the great taste of McDonald’s
We shop where you shop
Hunt’s, Kraft, Vlasic, Gorton’s, Sara Lee, Keebler, Coke, Quaker, Tyson’s, Carnation and McCormick spices. And many others. We buy trusted brand names just like you.
ALSO SEE: Check out 100 vintage 1970s supermarkets & retro grocery stores
McDLT ad from 1987
McDLT: The hot stays hot, the cool stays cool
It’s the tastiest way to enjoy delicious, cool lettuce, tomatoes and cheese a hot 1/4 lb* beef patty on a sesame seed bun!
The lettuce stays crisp, the tomato firm and juicy because our special package keeps the trimmings cool on one side and the hamburger hot on the other side…until you put them together!
McDLT ad featuring Jason Alexander before Seinfeld (c1985)
McDonald’s food from the 1990s: Egg McMuffin
Did somebody say McDonalds?
Filet-O-Fish: Back by demand
Your favorite Filet-O-Fish sandwich is back… bigger and better than ever! Crispy on the outside, tender and flaky on the inside. Plus that famous, tangy tartar sauce with American Cheese!
Spanish language McDonald’s menu board in Boston area (1991)
Scenes of a ’90s McDonald’s restaurant
CSI TV show star Eric Szmanda in McDonald’s ad from 1996
Mornin’ Break: Coffee & hash browns – plus a bacon, egg & cheese biscuit sandwich
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3 Responses
In the early 1970s, the McDonald’s near us was of the older drive-up design, and had no interior seating beyond a couple of folding chairs. We would go there to get lunch after church on Sundays, and it was one of the highlights of my week. Of course that particular McDonald’s has been demolished and rebuilt several times since then, and it’s now state-of-the-art.
I miss the way McDonald’s (and other fast-food restaurants) used to be in the 1980s and 1990s…my childhood and teenage years. I was especially hooked with the McDLTs that kept the top half of the sandwich cold (lettuce, cheese, ketchup, top bun) while it kept the bottom half of the sandwich hot (burger and bottom bun). I also miss the play areas that we kids could play on to work off some of those calories while having fun. I wish someone would take me back to the Good Old Days and keep me there!
My hometown is Fremont, California. The McDonalds of my early childhood, on Thornton Avenue, is where the Quarter Pounder was invented. We had three McDonalds with incredibly unique interiors. Thornton Ave had a train with banquet cars. Fremont Boulevard had curio cases loaded with 50-100 year old toys. But the best was Grimmer Boulevard. It featured a grand carousel with horses, brass fittings and mirrors. There were booths on the merry-go-round where you could eat. (sigh) I really miss America. Like missing a lost loved one. My hometown is almost completely demolished. Razed. With 300% the population of my youth Fremont boasts of being the “model city of the 21st Century.” In reality it was overrun from the other side of the world, rents are outrageous, homeless people everywhere and a large smattering of Karens. Totally ruined.