Photos show what it was like to eat at McDonald's in the 1970s (2024)

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Before the introduction of high-tech cash registers, McDonald's employees would take down orders by hand to give to the kitchen.

By the 1970s, the company was well-established and beginning its global expansion. In 1967, the first McDonald's restaurant outside the US opened in Richmond, British Columbia, according to McDonald's website. By 1970, the chain had sold over 6 billion burgers.

The self-service concept allowed customers to order at the counter and watch as their meal was being prepared by employees through a large window into the kitchen.

McDonald's meals were served on plastic trays, which customers could then bring over to a dining-room table to enjoy.

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McDonald's got its first drive-thru in 1975.

While chains like In-N-Out Burger already had drive-thru windows, McDonald's didn't have one until 1975, when a franchisee in Sierra Vista, Arizona, skirted around an Army regulation that prevented military members from entering local businesses in fatigues.

According to Fast Company, he got around the regulation by knocking down a wall in his restaurant's kitchen and installing a drive-thru window in order to serve them.

The menu at McDonald's in the 1970s already had a few familiar options.

Before the 1960s, theMcDonald's menu was simple. It included burgers, cheeseburgers, fries, milkshakes, and other fast-food classics. The first new item to be added to the national menu was the Filet-O-Fish sandwich in 1965, followed by the iconic Big Mac in 1968.

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After the release of the Big Mac in 1968, the burger rose in popularity throughout the 1970s to become the chain's signature menu item.

In 1973, the chain added two more signature burgers to its menu: the Quarter Pounder and Quarter Pounder with cheese.

In 1979, Happy Meals were introduced to attract parents who wanted to feed all family members at a great price.

In 1972, McDonald's began offering breakfast for the first time.

The introduction of the Egg McMuffin marked a turning point for the brand, attracting a wide customer base at a new time of day.

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Dining in at McDonald's was popular among families, who could sit, grab a cheap bite, and even play cards.

In this photo, a family plays cards at a McDonald's in Mill Valley, California, in 1973.

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This is what Ronald McDonald looked like in 1974.

Ronald McDonald was introduced in 1963 during a Washington, DC-marketed advertisem*nt for the restaurant. In the ad, Ronald McDonald pulled hamburgers out of his belt and had a McDonald's cup for a nose. His hat was a tray with a Styrofoam hamburger, fries, and a milkshake on top of it.

McDonald's considered changing Ronald McDonald's character to a cowboy or spaceman, but those ideas were quickly discarded.

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For kids who grew up in the 1970s, there was no better place to celebrate a birthday than McDonald's.

Fast Company reported that the first McDonald's PlayPlace was introduced in 1971, forever changing the McDonald's dining experience for families and children. While parents relaxed and ate their meals, kids could play in colorful climbing structures, jungle gyms, and slides.

The introduction of the PlayPlace solidified McDonald's reputation as a destination for families on a budget, as many were during the 1970s amid a time of financial insecurity, high inflation, and the Vietnam War.

You could even get married at McDonald's.

Annette Scaramozza and Anthony Francis are pictured at their wedding ceremony in a McDonald's in 1975.