Maurice and Richard McDonald

(20th century)

The brothers who founded McDonald's restaurant. Richard also designed the golden arches logo. They opened the first McDonald's in 1948 in San Bernadino, California, and in 1954 signed a franchise agreement with Ray Kroc. Kroc bought the McDonald brothers out in 1961 for $2.7 million. The chain had more than 100 restaurants at that time.

Email received on 12/19/2003 from Ronald L. McDonald, the nephew of the original founders of McDonald’s:

Dear James,
I really enjoy your site and find it informative. I am also happy to see that in the Who's Who section you have my family listed. So often I have to rant and rave to inform people that Richard & Maurice McDonald conceived and started McDonald's and not Ray Kroc (one of our employees for 5 years).

As a matter of interest I am also active in the industry for the past 40 years and still do a lot of consulting to start up chains. My last book "The Complete Hamburger" was published by Birch Lane Press and next year I have Ronald McDonald's Franchise Buyers Guide and Ronald McDonald's International Burger Book. I am just finishing the first of a new series: The Great American Hot Dog Book.

Keep helping the world to understand food history, That’s Great.
PS: I have a new web site coming out myself
www.ronaldmcdonald-author.com

Sincerely,     Ronald L. McDonald