McDonald’s: Memories of the golden arches

This was the original McDonald's in Lethbridge, located on Mayor Magrath Drive South.

Source: Facebook/Lethbridge Historical Society

(May be subject to copyright)

It is such a staple of fast food, it is hard to believe there was a time before McDonald’s filled our bellies with Big Macs, Quarter Pounders, and much more.

Yet, I remember when McDonald’s first came to Lethbridge and how it was a treat to go there for supper. It also left me a lot of memories of collector’s cups, specialty menu items, reasonable prices, and great cheeseburgers.

In the beginning
I don’t recall hearing about any sort of grand opening for McDonald’s, but we were pretty isolated on the farm.

Instead, the first time I heard about McDonald’s was from my cousins Nina and Carl who lived in Lethbridge, and came to visit regularly on Sunday afternoons.

The visits were always had a time limitt because their dad my Uncle Ed, had to play hockey.

One day, as they were getting ready to leave, one of my cousins said, “We get to stop at McDonald’s” for supper.

“McDonald’s,” I thought. “What’s that?”

McDonald’s
The original location of McDonald’s in Lethbridge was on Mayor Magrath Drive south. When we went to town, my parents stuck pretty much to two spots. One was the downtown where most of the stores were. The other was Simpson Sears which, at that time, was in north Lethbridge. It was on the way to my Uncle Ed’s place, so we went there fairly often.

Woolco was located at the south end of Mayor Magrath Drive, and occasionally we would go there, if my mom could convince my dad.

That was how I got to go to McDonald’s the first time.

I was able to convince my parents to stop there on the way back from Woolco, because we would pass right by it on our way home.

The overriding memory of that first trip to McDonald’s was that it was so busy. It looked like someone had kicked over an ant hill.

The menu was interesting with exotic-sounding items such as “Big Mac”, “Quarter Pounder”, and “Filet of Fish”. The prices were cheap, like $2.20 for a “Big Mac”, and the burgers came in these Styrofoam boxes of different colours. Each burger had a corresponding colour. The one I always thought clever was blue for “Filet of Fish”.

Back then, I was not too adventurous and, like now, had a sensitivity to sauces. So, with all that choice – I had a plain cheese burger. I think it was $0.99.

Outside, underneath the big golden arches, was a sign that said, “Over two million served”, or something to that effect.

I always that was a cool kind of marketing trick.

Cast of characters
McDonald’s created a number of characters through its marketing activities, that made up sort of a community.

The most prominent was Ronald McDonald who looked like a clown, including white face paint and a big red smile. He was everywhere.

One time, we were at a Lethbridge Dodgers baseball game. McDonald’s was a big sponsor of the Dodgers. One of my cousins and I were standing next to the dugout, when Ronald McDonald emerged with a straw broom to brush off home plate.

Afterwards, when he was walking off the field, I heard him say something to one of the Dodger officials. Just like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, the illusion was broken for me.

Ronald McDonald was just a guy in a suit and makeup.

There was also Mayor McCheese whose head was a gigantic burger, and the Hamburgler, who was dressed like your classic thief complete with the black scarf over his eyes. McDonald’s sold collector’s cups, and I had these two for years.

What’s on the menu?
McDonald’s was one of the first fast-food places I remember introducing specialty items, that were available for a limited time only, but seemingly the same time every year.

The first one I remember was the “Shamrock Shake”, which had a minty flavour. I am pretty sure it was available in March to coincide with St. Patrick’s Day, but this was a recent revelation for me.

The other one was the tropical trio – the kiwi sundae; pineapple hot pie; and the banana shake.

It was just the beginning of something McDonald’s continues to do – tinker with its menu. Other things that came and went were the McDLT, McPizza, McRib and McFlurry.

Place commercial here
The main vehicle for all these marketing activities was the McDonald’s commercial. They had so many, involving all these characters and these special items.

Over time, they began to tell stories and involve actual people. One of the first I recall had a song that began, “The crack of dawn, hot coffee’s, a glorious day is waiting for you.”

This guy in my class named Mike Kozbial had an incredible wit, and way with words.

He muttered one day, “The croak of dawn, hot coffee’s gone”.

Obviously I still find it funny.

Stress relief
When I went off to university in Edmonton, I was free to do what I wanted, so doing things like going to McDonald’s didn’t involve having to convince my parents anymore. Now, it was just about finding a way to get there.

By my second year, 1988-1989, I had made friends with Bruce Freadrich who had a car, a white Toyota Tercel. He was happy to drive us to movies, the mall, or anywhere else.

In first semester, we were studying for finals. The university had made these conference rooms available for us to study in, and provided us with what they called “Exam treats”, which were mostly cookies and juice.

One day, the exam treats just didn’t cut it.

Bruce leaned over, and whispered in my ear, “Ralphin’ Ronny’s?”, which was what he called McDonald’s.

I jumped up so fast, it was like I was shot out of a cannon.

The scene repeated itself second semester, only this time Bruce invited along his friend KK, who I had just met. He was hilarious.

When we went through the drive through, we were ordering and, from the backseat Kelly kept yelling, “I’ll have a g—dam- McDLT ” in this southern accent like an evangelist.

The things you laugh at when you’re 19.

Parting thoughts
When I was growing up and McDonald’s first came to town, I hadn’t heard of the concept of fast food, or that eating at McDonald’s – back then – was really cheap.

Instead, looking back, I always thought of McDonald’s as a treat. It was the experience of being in town – and off the farm – and going out for dinner that was cool.

Plus, I really liked those plain cheeseburgers.