The "The Perfect Meal For A Teenager" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Sitting in my car with friend Terry, waiting for the line in front of us to move so we can get our Cheeseburgers, fries and Cokes.

McDonald's cheeseburger

 At the time the burgers cost 19 cents and the fries cost 15 cents.  Not sure what the Coke might have cost.  We had just come from our jobs as check-out clerks at the Acme Supermarket on the Millersville Pike, about a mile or so away from the first McDonald's in Lancaster County.  Lancaster's first McDonald's had a single Golden Arch and was a   carry-out drive-in restaurant.  It was opened in 1962, seven years after Ray Kroc's original McDonald's franchise restaurant in Illinois.  At the time there were only 350 McDonald's in the country.  

Now who wouldn't want one of these instead of a cheeseburger.

This year marks another milestone for the fastfood giant: the 50th birthday of the BIG MAC!  It was known as the Super Sandwich from McDonald's.  It was advertised as being made with: 2 freshly ground patties of 100% pure beef, tangy melted cheese, crisp lettuce and pickle and our own special sauce on a fresh-baked bun!  

And...my favorite dessert!

At limited locations you also got a free Apple Pie with each "Big Mac" purchase.  Lancaster wasn't one of of those locations!  It was actually formulated in Pittsburgh, Pennsyl- vania by owner/operator Jim Delligatti who formulated what would become its signature sandwich in 1967 and available at all locations in 1968.  The sandwich got it's name from a 21 year-old girl by the name of Ester Rose who worked as an advertising secretary.  It was priced at 49 cents when it first was released.  Today in Lancaster it sells for $3.99.  In 2007 Jim Delligatti opened a Big Mac Museum Restaurant in North Huntingdon, Pennsylvania.  Today there are over 550 million Big Macs sold each year.  In 2007 McDonald's gave away bottles of a special-edition Big Mac sauce and in no time appeared on eBay and sold for as high as $10,000 each.  Do you remember the catchy song created to go with the Big Mac?  Words for it were: "Two all-beef patties, Special Sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a Sesame Seed Bun."  Geez...if they would have had those in 1962, Terry and I would have bought them instead of just a regular cheeseburger!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. 

PS - And now my granddaughter Courtney works at a McDonald's serving the likes of guys like Terry and me as we drive by their window hoping to be waited on by a good looking chick.