Food In The 1940's

The old saying goes to show true: You are what you eat! This can be said for every person on this planet, but the view of food and the way in which people consume food has changed dramatically since the 1900’s. There have been many people who led the change and paved the way to society as we know it today. During the 1940’s, America was full of drive-in diners. This was about the time that automobiles were industrialized and introduced into society. Americans were fascinated with the idea of traveling in their new cars, and as a result, many would rather not get out of their cars to eat (Schlosser 17). The food industry accommodated for the new and growing automobile population and created the drive-in diner. Turning the focus to the new …show more content…
The design for a mascot turned out to be more of a challenge than Kroc originally intended. The first mascot was a hamburger-headed chef named Speedee. It turned out that Speedy was already the name of the mascot for Alka-Seltzer’s. This original idea was changed to disconnect from any possible connection between the two companies. Later in 1960, a man named Oscar Goldstein, who was a McDonald’s franchisee in Washington D.C., sponsored a clown from a children’s show called Bozo’s Circus. By having a familiar face associated with the business, the restaurants drew in large crowds. Sadly, the show was cancelled, and McDonald’s was once again without a mascot. Goldstein knew that the idea of a clown was popular among children, so he hired the TV show’s star to invent a new clown, and thus Ronald McDonald was born. The children found something amazing in this new mascot and the name soon rivaled that of Mickey Mouse (Schlosser 41). Some people say today that the name is more recognized by children than any other …show more content…
Commercials and the creation of a mascot were only the beginning. Although McDonald’s spends $3 billion on television advertising, the real focus is how to get children to feel the “need” to visit. Kroc wanted to create an amusement park around the company, but he was convinced against the idea because it would take away from the food company. The resolution to this problem was to incorporate playlands into the restaurants themselves. This would allow for children to play, while parents sit and enjoy their meal. It was estimated that ninety percent of American children (ages three to nine) visited a McDonald’s every month, but as society changed and people wanted to be on-the-go more than they wanted to sit and eat, the idea of a playland was becoming less and less popular. McDonald’s began including toys in their kid’s meals to give children another reason to want to visit (Schlosser 48). This idea now allows the food industry to provide cross promotions with Hollywood. Hollywood provides the toys, while McDonald’s provide the advertising of whatever movie or show Hollywood