I've been transcribing more of my mother's diary entries onto her blog today. I'm up to March, 1964, now. At this point, my grandparents are visiting from Iowa, and here's how a Friday in March reads:Hank came home at 9:30 & got Billy - took him to base for haircut - we went to Roosevelt Gardens Shop. Center to Woolworth's & Rose's - ate dinner at McDonald's - then went to Miller's - Billy messed his pants in there - after coffee Mom, Billy & I went to Ship's Serv. & the Commissary - Billy messed his pants twice more - Mom was sick tonight - We were suppose to go to Dearmon's & called it off -Probably a good call, Mom, unless the Dearmon's had those clear plastic slipcovers on their upholstered furniture. I'm guessing that McD's was the culprit since Grandma got sick, too. In March '64 I would have been four, and I went through the hair-raising diary entries about my potty training quite awhile back. When I was transcribing those dreary days I thought I would scream if I read "Billy messed his pants" one more time, and - damn- it turns up again like a bad penny.
I haven't eaten anything from McDonald's for at least a year, although there's a brand new one close to my home. It's constructed in the hamburger kingdom's latest architectural style. In 1964 the McDonald's in Tidewater looked like a bathroom turned wrongside out, all white tile with red tile accents, and two golden arches soaring over the sides of the building. There was no indoor seating. There were no Big Macs, QuarterPounders, McRibs, McMuffins, Hamburglers, or psychotic clowns wearing bright red wigs. You had a choice of a hamburger or a cheeseburger, one size (tiny by today's standards) bag of French fries, and a small soft drink.
There were a few outdoor tables, but we usually ate in the car. My parents kept an aluminum serving tray under the front seat so that my food wouldn't get smeared all over the red vinyl upholstery of our 1963 Mercury, and after I ate my mother would whirl around in her seat to reach back and give me the dreaded 'spit bath.' Ugh!
My grandparents probably thought that McDonald's was a treat, because I doubt that even today there's a fast food chain establishment in Grundy Center, Iowa. When we visited Grundy County when I was growing up, the nearest McDonald's was thirty miles away in Waterloo. Iowans preferred Maid-Rites, and I do, too. On my last trip to Iowa for a family reunion, my cousins took me to Taylor's Maid-Rite in Marshalltown. I had a Maid-Rite and a butterscotch milkshake, and they were so good that I would have slapped my grandma if she hadn't already taken the dirt nap.
On my 1999 trip to Spain, there was a McDonald's under construction in Almunecar. Suzanne would hiss everytime we drove past it, but once it opened the Spaniards flocked to it. I guess it's a good thing. After all, why should America corner the market on grossly obese children on the fast track to diabetes?
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15 comments:
you guys at McDees in the 1960's wow it didnt'come here to NZ until the late 1970's - *sigh*
Oh well..it's still a great place to eat - I like their salads etc :-)
My first fast-food experience was in 1962 when I went on a church youth trip to tour one of our colleges. We stopped at a Carroll's (later bought[?] by Burger King - but very much like McD's). I tried to order a hamburger with mustard and got looks as if I had just landed from Mars. I guess I had. For 18 cents you got it their way or not at all.
It wouldn't be until about 1964 that we saw our first McD's in my hometown.
When I was little, we got to go to the new McDonald's on Friday nights. We'd sit in school-desk chairs under the arches and watch the bugs get fried in the bug zapper. My meal—hamburger, fries, and milk—cost 25¢.
I lived for those nights. Not so much anymore. The shine of eating out has worn dull; the experience is no longer special. But that McDonald's is still there, having been rebuilt twice. Business is good.
We went to Gino's. They had the best milkshakes. As far as the messing the pants thing, as long as you are still not doing it now:)
We used to go to HoJo's rather than McD's when I was little, and only on a road trip...it was very exciting to get ripple chips and rippled pickle slices with your sandwich. Fancy stuff! And the ice cream from the pointy scoops (like a witch's hat in a cone, if the witch had an ice cream hat that is)
Hi Bill.. Curious¡¡ I have been in Virginia too.. you in Jaén.. the world is so small.. hehehe.. greetings from spain.. pedro
That poor child. I love Egg McMuffins with sausage, but I am no longer eating mammal or fowl.
The McDonald's in my neighborhood looked just like the one pictured above. The year was approximately 1970, and it was old then. I remember some old cement tables and benches behind the store. The tops were covered in ceramic tile, and bits of them were broken off. Weeds grew up all around the seating area.
I find it quite amusing that a) your mother documents every time you messed your pants and b) that you've shared that information here.
My brother was a manager at McD's in high school. His biggest memory is when one of his workers dumped a french-fries sized vat of cold congealed grease on another kid. He laughed his butt off. Said the greased kid looked like a snow man. Musta been a fun place to work... I think.
just coming by to say hi, so you'll know I'm thinking about you.
Hi Bill.
Man, that last picture is really distirbing. I almost messed my pants.
OMG. THat poor fat little boy looks like an escapee from the SHIP in Wall-E. I'm surjprised that PAM hasn't change your PANTS name to Billypoopypants. HA.
Oh, Bill, how I love you dearly. I am exhausted and depressed-ish and your story made me laugh, snicker, feel slightly ill, and all better. You rock.
L
oh my god, that brings back memories. The day my grandmother died ( I was in first grade)my mom went to McDonalds to get us all food before we took the long road trip to St. Louis. When she got home, she unwrapped all the hamburgers and put them on a platter in the middle of the table. She then put the fries in a large bowl, again in the center of the table and poured the soft drinks in "real" glasses. We ate off our good plates. I always wondered why we did this because then she put the dishes in the sink and we left. Things sure were different then.
Bill,
Morgan Spurlock put me off McD's for years with Super Size Me. In fact, I just ate a my first McD's sandwich in five years over the weekend. No fries.
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