The McDonald brothers in front of the not yet opened first McDonald's, November 1948, San Bernadino, CA [2048x1492]

Image from i.redditmedia.com and submitted by notbob1959
image showing The McDonald brothers in front of the not yet opened first McDonald's, November 1948, San Bernadino, CA [2048x1492]

notbob1959 on August 15th, 2018 at 16:19 UTC »

This would be the third restaurant opened by the brothers. In 1937, they opened their first food stand near the Monrovia airport, where they sold primarily hot dogs. In 1940, the brothers moved their establishment to the southwest corner of N E St and W 14th St. in San Bernardino. They named the restaurant McDonald’s Famous Barb-B-Q, as seen on the sign on the left side of the posted photo. That restaurant was remodeled and opened as the first McDonald's in 1948. That building was demolished in 1953 to be replaced by a building in the now familiar Golden Arches style. The McDonald brothers failed to retain rights to the McDonald's name when they sold the chain to Ray Kroc, and were forced to rename it "The Big M." It went out of business and was demolished in 1972, although part of the sign remains; an independent McDonald's museum was opened on the site in 1998.

citizenadvocate09 on August 15th, 2018 at 16:40 UTC »

Ray Kroc was working as a salesman for a struggling milkshake mixer manufacturer. Ray was impressed by the efficiency and cleanliness of Richard and Maurice McDonald's restaurant and franchised the concept in partnership with the McDonald brothers April 1955 in Des Plaines, Illinois. In 1961 Ray bought the entire company except for this original location which the McDonald brothers declined to sell. This location continued operation as "The Big M" because the brothers had sold rights to the McDonald's name.

Edit:

Lots of discussion below using the film The Founder as a source. The Founder is an intriguing and entertaining film (7.2 on IMDB), but the film is a work of fiction, a drama "based on a true story," not a documentary.

There was no "handshake" deal and Ray Kroc did not cheat the McDonald's brothers out of millions per year in royalties. The brothers gladly accepted $2.7 million dollars ($8 million dollars in 2017 dollars) and went about their lives. Dick moved to New Hampshire and seemed generally happy with the deal (other than objecting to Kroc calling himself "the founder,") Mac was stressed by Kroc's subsequent actions but at the time of the sale he flew to Chicago and accepted the buyout terms. Kroc may not have been a nice man, but the sale was a legitimate transaction.

The McDonald brothers were visionaries, but throughout their lives they were never able to transform their various ideas into substantial businesses. The McDonald's franchise went on to great financial success because of many savvy moves by Ray Kroc.

Edit 2:

A good source for fact-checking the film The Founder: http://rayandjoan.com/the-founder/

dghfx on August 15th, 2018 at 16:55 UTC »

I just want to reach out and warn them of Michael Keaton those poor sweet fools