Take Me Back To McDonaldland

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Since justj and taylhis have gotten me thinking about fast food and their ad campaigns, I began to think about the characters in the Ronald McDonald family.  It seems that one of the characters that I do remember became the focus of a lawsuit in the mid-late 1970s. It seems that Mayor McCheese was discontinued as the result of a battle between McDonald’s and Sid and Marty Krofft, creators of H.R. Pufnstuf and Land of the Lost.  By the late 1970s, the entire concept of McDonaldland was all but phased out leaving only a handful of characters.  I also remember Grimace, Hamburglar (“Rumble, Rumble”), the Fry Guys, Birdie The Early Bird (introduced when the chain began to promote breakfast on the menu).  I also remember having my 6th birthday party at the old McDonalds which has since moved to the busy side of town where Wal-Mart, KMart, and everything else seems to be.  What is on the other side of town that once had such life including a drive-in theatre (but that is another story entirely).  Wendy’s, Dairy Queen, anything else?

There are also Captain Crook Who peddled Filet O’ Fish sandwiches, the animated pie tree, and a professor who I do not remember at all.  And don’t forget Officer Big Mac.

2 thoughts on “Take Me Back To McDonaldland”

  1. Dollar General and the hardware store are also over on that side of town. Ponderosa vacated also, I’m told. I had a few birthdays at McDonalds – ours had a train that kids could eat in and a large plastic tree you could play on. I once got stuck in the Mayor McCheese piece of playground equiptment – remember the old grimace bouncy cages? There is a house in West Chicago, IL that has a few pieces of the old playground equipment in the yard.

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