McHistory

Here's one tour the L.A. Conservancy hasn't launched yet: McDonald's historian Chris Nichols is throwing together an all-day bus tour on April 22 that explores the origins of the fast food giant. The details:

McDONALDS HISTORY TOUR
Saturday, April 22, 2006 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Meet at the world's oldest McDonald's
(10207 Lakewood @ Florence, Downey)
Call 213.804.4184 or email mcdonaldstour@yahoo.com for tickets

Price: $50 per person.

Ticket price includes museum admissions, snacks, water, air-conditioned
luxury motor coach transportation, all-day parking and lunch.

McHistorian Chris Nichols presents a bus tour exploring the legacy and hidden history of brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald, founders of McDonald's restaurants. We will travel historic Route 66 into the San Gabriel Valley and Inland Empire, visiting the birthplace of the fast food industry.

Through museums, site visits and the personal recollections of the people who were there, you will learn the true story of the world's largest restaurant chain. The McDonald brothers moved to California in 1932 and started an eclectic collection of businesses before trying their hand at hamburgers and changing the way the world eats.

Sites will include the colonial home of the brothers, store #7 in Pomona, the moody industrial machine shop/museum where many fast food innovations were created and the 3rd McDonald's ever built, the landmark Downey store opened in 1953. Invited guests include former carhop Mildred "Skeeter" Kobzeff, early franchisee Jack R. Widmeyer and neon man Ray Quiel. Rare films and still photos of these early days will be screened on the bus.

Yes, we know FAST FOOD NATION, we know McDonald's owns over 28,000 restaurants, is the nation's largest purchaser of beef, pork and potatoes, is the largest owner of retail property in the U.S. and that McGlobalization can be a bad thing. We'll see Southern California before all that and learn about the orange groves, hot dog stands and homemade shacks that paved the way for this Modern world.

Check out their site for more details.