Today in 1955, the first McDonald's east of the Mississippi River opened in Des Plaines, Ill. While it wasn't the first McDonald's, at that time a small franchise business that had been started by Maurice and Richard McDonald, this one was significant because it was owned by Ray Kroc, who would propel the company from a small franchise out of San Bernadino, Calif. to a global food staple.
The business started in 1940 as a drive-in barbecue joint with no indoor seating; people were served in their cars. The business was a success, largely for its hamburgers, which constituted well over half of their profits. They pivoted to focus on the burgers, moving from a drive-in model to a drive-thru model, where people ordered at a window. The restaurant's "Speedee Service System" used machines and division of labor to get people food quickly, and at very affordable prices—at first, a hamburger was just 15 cents.
They started to establish franchises across California and Arizona before working with Kroc, then a salesman for a milkshake mixing machine, to open his Illinois shop. In what would be a pivotal move, he got the rights to franchise McDonald's across the country. In 1961, he purchased the whole business, which then saw explosive growth. McDonald's went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 1965. The company opened its first location outside the U.S. in Costa Rica in 1970 and soon had a handful more in other countries. The growth was pretty consistent through the decades; locations doubled from 1988 to 1996, reaching a total of 20,000.
You can learn more about the history of McDonald's at History.com.
