I think it must have been in 1983 that I first went to America. It was the summer. I stayed for around 6 weeks. The aim was to photograph mainly landscapes in colour. However, my brother-in-law George mention this old McDonald’s nearby to where he lived. He thought I might find it interesting. I had been working on the Paintbox Reality project on and off for about 4 years. When I saw the restaurant I knew it was something special. I shot 2 or 3 rolls of Ektachrome E6 120 film using my Pentax 6x7. I knew at the time I had some stunning semi abstract pictures. When I got home and put them into the lab I was hardly able to wait. Seeing the rich colours got me really excited about them. One of the really classy monthly photography mags did a feature on me and used some of them. I also exhibited the series a few times in the 80s and 90s. This is one, you can see the series later in the year.

The McDonald brothers, Richard and Maurice began with one restaurant in San Bernardino, California. It was originally a drive-thru barbeque restaurant cooking the food to order. They came up with the idea of only offering burgers, fries and milkshakes. Selling them at half the price of their competitors. Doing away with table service by customers collecting their orders from a seperate window. And serving the food in paper bags so as not to have crockery and cutlery. The waiting time was vastly reduced by cooking the food in advance and keeping it warm. This model proved to be an overnight sensation and you will recognise aspects of it as the modern McDonald’s experience.

The original McDonald’s restaurant was a drive-in barbecue but Dick and Mac found that burgers were their biggest seller. So, they streamlined the menu to only sell hamburgers, cheeseburgers, french fries, coffee, soft drinks and apple pie. In April 1952, they decided they needed a new building in order to improve the efficiency of the food production and be more visible to prospective customers. After interviewing four architects they went with a local – Stanley Clark Meston. Together, they came up with a completely new image consisting of two enormous golden arches made of sheet metal that towered 25 feet and straddled the building. The walls surfaces were covered with red and white rectangular tiles with stainless steel prep counters and large pane glass windows giving a light clean appearance. The restaurant had a red, white, yellow and green neon sign over the roof and at the roadside was a smaller but no less imposing Golden Arch sign with a cartoon chef called Speedee striding over it. This new restaurant was to become the basis of the McDonald brother's fast-food brand.

The McDonald brothers began looking to franchise in 1953. It was not a successful venture. They eventually opened two. Neil Fox opened the first with the new Golden Arches at Indian School Road in Phoenix Arizona. The other was opened by Fox’ brother-in-law Roger Williams in August 1953 at Lakewood Boulevard, in Downey, California.

It was in 1954 that Ray Kroc entered the story. Ray was a travelling salesman for the Prince Castle company. He travelled around selling the Multimixer milkshake machines. He was becoming increasingly frustrated by his lack of sales and also his lifestyle. On one occasion he discovered that a restaurant in California had placed an order for not one but eight of the milkshake machines. This intrigued him so he made the long cross-country trip out to San Bernardino to find out why the restaurant needed eight of his machines. Arriving at the McDonald’s restaurant, he was astounded. What he witnessed was something very new. People were queuing for burgers, the service was fast and cheap but very good. It was a family restaurant, not frequented by the teenagers in their ‘souped-up ‘cars playing loud music. He realised that this was a winning business formula and wanted to be a part of it.

The McDonald’s brothers had tried franchising their fast-food brand without much success. The first restaurant in San Bernardino was very successful but they were typical of many ‘inventors’ in they came up with a really original idea but could not take it to the next stage. They introduced a number of innovations into the first restaurants to increase sales and encourage customers to eat and go! These included fixed seats with the backs angled slightly forward so the customers were sitting immediately over their food. Cups were cone-shaped so that they had to be held at all times. The heating was turned down and space between tables was increase capacity leading to increase noise and reducing opportunities to talk quietly. Ray Kroc eventually persuaded the brothers to let him become a partner and manage the franchising of restaurants across the USA. This was the beginning of what would become one of the most successful businesses in the world. However, in the early days, Ray found the brothers were reluctant to take on new ideas. For example, their original milkshakes were made from fresh milk. Ray discovered a powdered version that simply involved adding water in the mixer/chiller. The flavour, texture and appearance were purported to be exactly the same and was a fifth of the cost. The brothers were livid when they discovered Ray had ignored their objection to it and introduced these new shakes into some of the franchises.

The McDonald’s empire expanded across the United States and quickly became the most popular fast-food family restaurant. It brought fame to Ray but not fortune. Cash flow became an issue preventing expansion. Bills were not getting paid and eventually Ray realised that the owners of franchises were earning far more than him. In 1954 Ray met Harry J. Sonneborn, who provided him with an idea that would revolutionize the franchise arm of the business. The procedure had involved Ray persuading people to open up McDonald’s franchises. They had to raise the money to buy the land, build the restaurant and pay the ongoing franchise fee. Ray and Harry set up a real estate business called the Franchise Realty Corp. The company purchased the land and built the restaurants and passed these costs onto the franchisees in their ongoing franchise fee. This meant that Ray now owned the leases and received regular income in the form of ground rent from every new restaurant, solving the cash flow problem. It became the model underpinning every new franchise. Today, McDonald’s is one of the biggest real estate owners in the world.

Once Ray Kroc owned the real estate, his cash flow improved. The McDonald brothers Dick and Mac felt they were losing control. Ray realised that he needed to break away from them so he offered to buy them out. At the time it seemed like a hostile takeover. This was not really true. In 1961 Ray had asked the brothers how much they wanted to sell the business to him and they said $2.7 million. Harry J. Sonneborn raised the money and the company transferred to Ray. It seemed amicable and the brothers were promised 0.5% of the profits in perpetuity. The backers did not agree to this at the time so Ray said he could not write it into the contract but he would honour it and they all shook hands on the deal. Apparently, the brothers never received this share. They were also told they could no longer use the name McDonald’s. It is worth noting that Sonneborn did not agree with Ray’s expansion ideas for the company. Sonneborn eventually resigned in 1967 and Ray became the president of the company.

Standardization is crucial in franchising to ensure the experience customers get is the same wherever they go. Trust and confidence are built on reliability. For example, I like a flat white coffee. I used to go to Starbucks. A flat white would cost around £3 to £3.70, so there is the first difference but that can be accommodated because things often cost more on motorways. What I could not accept was a flat white poorly made. The milk has to be just the right temperature and consistency. It has to be slowly poured in to the cup around the inside edge so it does not mix into the coffee. Then, if it has been poured correctly an amount of white milk can be carefully poured onto the top to make a fern or heart-like shape. It takes time. What I was getting was basically a milky coffee that was the same all the way down the cup because the ‘barrista’ had slopped it in. They would argue with me and be adamant that was how it should be. Some would even go off in a huff when I asked it to be remade. Eventually, another staff would do it right. The McDonald’s next to that same Starbucks sold a machine-made flat white. It is not perfect but at least it was very like a flat white in taste, appearance and consistency. Invariably, it was always the same and the price was £1.89 in 2023. That is nearly £2 cheaper. That is why Starbucks lost me as a customer. Consistency and reliability are King. Ray Kroc recognised this and set up what came to be called the Hamburger University in 1961. Its role was to train franchise staff at all levels to do their jobs in line with the franchise style. Also, during the sixties the McDonald’s logo was refined into the M made from the golden arches (see the first picture of this series). This was placed on a 20 feet high pole at the roadside so drivers could see it from a distance and be able to pull off safely.

Initially, the menu was simply Burgers and fries but in 1965 the Filet-O-Fish was added. It was trialled in the Roman Catholic suburb of Cincinnati by Leon Groen. In 1968, the Big Mac was created by Jim Delligati of Pittsburgh and the Quarterpounder added in 1973. On 14th January 1984 Ray Kroc died.In 1974, the first McDonald’s opened in England in Woolwich. It was the 3000th to open. I remember the milkshakes. I had never had anything like it. The special raspberry one was my favourite. Since then, the McDonald’s corporation has become an international phenomenon. They are one of the biggest employers worldwide however, the low pay and sometimes poor shift managers has led to disgruntled staff. Since showing this story a number have written to me about the poor conditions, stressful work environment, bullish line management and customer treatment. Like any workplace, McDonald’s has its problems but even so, it soldiers on through pandemics, economic slumps, wars and climate-change pressures.