Anyone for a Tempting Cheeseburger? This is what the original McDonald’s menu looked like
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MCDONALD'S has become a globally-recognisable icon thanks to its extensive and varied menu - but things weren't always that way for the fast food giant.
Today, you'd probably be able to recognise the store's famous Golden Arches from anywhere, but you'd be hard pressed to find much in common with the original McDonald's menu.
The chain's humble origins can be traced back to 1940, when the McDonald's Bar-B-Q, named after it's founders, was opened in San Bernardino, California.
Dick and Mac McDonald were the men behind the brand, and little did they know that they were about to stumble upon the formula for world domination when they opened their humble drive-in store.
This early branch boasted an extensive menu, with their hamburgers on offer for just 25 cents.
Thirsty punters had the choice of classic Coca Cola, root beer, coffee or ice cream-based beverages to wash down their peanut butter sandwiches or chilli and beans.
Other menu options available in this early drive-through McDonald's included barbecued plates, melted cheese sandwiches and hamburger steaks, all coming with the now-classic side of french fries.
And a menu preserved from 1943 boasts that the brother's meaty meals, none of which cost more than 60 cents, are barbecued in the store's own pit, which customers were invited to inspect.
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However, it took until 1948 for McDonald's as we know it to be founded, after the brothers closed their restaurant for three months in order to refurbish it.
When it was re-opened, the store had been reborn as a self-service restaurant, with just nine items on the menu.
In 1948, the slimmed-down menu offered cheeseburgers, soft drinks, milk, coffee, potato chips and a slice of pie, but it was the 15 cent hamburgers which really stole the show.
The signature sandwich was emblazoned on the enormous sign outside the restaurant, and proved to be the McDonald brothers' defining product.
A year later, in 1949, potato chips were swapped out for french fries, but the biggest change yet for the entrepreneurial brothers would come in 1954, when their business started showing signs it was really about to take off.
Travelling salesman Ray Kroc happened to come across the first McDonald's whilst he was touring the country, but became fascinated by the fledgling store.
And Kroc, 52, was delighted when he learned from Mac and Dick that the pair were looking for someone to help them franchise the business out.
After helping to take the reins, Kroc oversaw the restaurant's expansion from a humble drive in barbecue to a national staple, opening the second store, in Illinois, in 1955.
This second store's nine-item menu stuck with hamburgers as the staple dish, offering a selection of drinks as well as french fries and cheeseburgers.
And it was here where the now-iconic Golden Arches first appeared in 1955, prompting the team to adopt a tweaked menu in line with the new McDonald's branding.
The 'McDonald's Amazing Menu', from around the same year, offered customers the choice of six drinks, with just three food items on the menu.
Whilst the "tempting" cheeseburger and "golden" french fries proved to be popular choices, it was the pure beef hamburger which continued to be the store's staple offering.
The humble menu is a far cry from the extensive range of choice available today, but the McDonald's burger has endured the test of time throughout it all.
Although it's impossible to guess what the chain will start offering years from now, you can bet that the humble hamburger will continue to underpin the whole brand.