Born in New Hampshire, the McDonald brothers moved to California in the 1920s and got into the restaurant business in the late 1930's. They opened a hot dog stand in Arcadia.

   In 1940, they opened McDonald's Barbeque Restaurant in San Bernardino. It did great, but more importantly it taught the brothers some important lessons about the fast-food service industry. The McDonald brothers shut down the restaurant for three months in 1948 to re-tool it.With a slimmed-down menu and an emphasis on serving the chow as quickly and as cheaply as possible, the highly-mechanized drive-in began churning out 15-cent hamburgers with unprecedented speed. By 1954, the McDonald brothers were operating nine outlets and had sold 21 franchises.

The McDonald's Brothers

Most influential fast-food restaurant chain in recorded history.