Before the glory of Southern California, the golden scenery was interwoven by the eight-lane expressway and the concrete overpass, and a continuous vehicle ballet was designed; Before the family was fascinated by the convenience of putting TV dinners in the oven; Before preservatives and genetically modified foods allow a lot of food, in order to be processed, preserved and transported in refrigerated trucks, and provided in disposable packages of fast food chains for quick consumption on the road, there are oranges for those travelers who are tortured and hungry. Millions of oranges are fragrant and dotted with thousands of acres of land. In Casablanca, what do they call a quarter pound of cheese? "At the dawn of the automobile age, in this rich agricultural bounty, entrepreneurs flashed the illusion of the dollar symbol in their minds. They erected huge imitations of brightly colored spheres, which were cheerful and whimsical. When drivers bumped along the open road, they could be seen from a distance. In these stalls, they squeeze fresh and thirst-quenching juice for five cents a cup to wake up overheated drivers (because this was before the appearance of car air conditioning). )

Squeezing oranges is hardly the wish of two brothers named MacDonald from Frost Manchester, New Hampshire. They saw their father being kicked to the side of the road after 42 years of working in * * * and Dang handicraft shoe factory, saying that he was too old to use any more. In this way, his working hours are over. The shame of his dismissal made his children feel an urgent need to control their own future to avoid this fate. In 1926, the eldest brother Maurice (Mac) went hiking to the west for the first time, followed by Dick (7 years younger than him), two of the first speculators to explore this road in decades. Their hope is to find fame in the emerging film industry, or at least to explore wealth, and when they are 51 years old, Ray and Joan, the man who created McDonald's wealth and the woman who gave them all < P >, ray kroc are selling franchises all over the country. In McDonald's in the 1951s, when he entered the Sao Paulo dinner club and met a beautiful young pianist, he would change his life forever. In order to pay the rent,

bought

, and the two brothers sweated for their salaries at Columbia Film Studio, pulling the TV and working lights during the shift of silent movies. Their salary of $25 a week is hardly enough for them to live like kings, and certainly not enough for their future.

unable to enter the more attractive behind-the-scenes industries such as production and directing, Dick and Mike scrimped and saved money to participate in another less glorious industry: the film industry. In 1931, they bought a theater 21 miles east of Los Angeles, located in the center of a strange growing orange zone called Glendora. News clips and double features turned a trip to the cinema into a whole day. In order to discourage customers from taking their own food to the movies, the brothers installed a snack bar in the hall. This seems to be a definite bet.

The 751-seat Mission Theatre is located not far from the City Hall, on the avenue lined with foothills. The two brothers recast the venue with an optimistic new name. However, during the years of economic depression, the lighthouse was rickety and the brothers' bills were overdue all the year round. They even buried some money in the backyard in case the bank failed. The only person who seems to make money is the owner of a root beer stand named Willie. Therefore, after seven years of business, Dick and Mike sold the theater in 1937 and transferred the industry from the entertainment industry to the food service industry. In the next town of Monrovia, on a route 66 with a history of ten years, they elaborately produced

Some people borrowed wood to an octagonal open-air food stall and reached an agreement with Sunkist for autumn fruits, with 21 dozen oranges accounting for a quarter. The name they call "the airport" comes from the airport near the foot of the mountain, which boasts itself as "the friendliest airport in America". This kind of air traffic attracts all kinds of idiots. Because the sand in this field is sometimes used to shoot movies, there is always a chance to catch a glimpse of stars like Guiguan or Hardy. Strengthened by the spectacular scene, satisfied day travelers will then go sideways to the airport to meet their basic needs, thirst and hunger with fresh orange juice drinks and hot dogs. This venture was very successful. The two brothers introduced their parents from New Hampshire and opened two more booths.

The two brothers briefly realized the dream of a new company they called Dimer, where every menu cost 11 cents, but they rejected the idea, thinking that it was too depressed. They are convinced that the future will involve attracting drivers. They believe that soon, the working hours will be reduced to less than four days a week, so that Americans will have plenty of leisure time to wander in the car and stop to eat. They dismantled their stalls and ventured further east to the growing desert city of San Bernandino, or San Berdoo as the locals call it, a long-established trade center 61 miles away from Los Angeles. Their optimism about the future encouraged them through the rejection of one bank after another, until they finally managed to get a loan of $5,111 from a bank, which was shocked by the location they chose in downtown San Bernardo, E Street and 14. Apart from their dreams, the only collateral for the two brothers is their dilapidated octagonal juice stand. They spent $211 to buy a porter, cut it in half and moved into a new home. This time, entrepreneurs affixed their surnames to their reincarnated institutions, followed by a special menu item: "McDonald's Barbecue".

Like other roadside restaurants at that time, McDonald's Barbecue Shop provided food directly to customers' cars through a convoy of beautiful young women named carhops, so named because they often jumped on the pedals of cars and claimed to be customers. Dick and Mike were very frugal, and dressed these ladies in usher uniforms recovered from the lighthouse, beautifying the dramatic prosperity of serving your window.

McDonald's survived the degeneration in the challenging war years, when the biological fortress and happiness were properly rationed. The Armistice Declaration opened the curtain of a cynical era, which suddenly swept the most ordinary aspects of life. Americans have saved their money and their desire for entertainment, and now they are making up for lost time. Henry Ford's production line began to produce cars after the production stopped during the war, and the prices of these cars were ordinary consumers. By 1951, 41 million cars blocked the road. Taxes on fuel sales allow the construction of wide new roads, providing access to large areas of the United States and new opportunities for adventure. All this means expanding the scope of services: gas stations, restaurants and motels. The journey becomes as important as the destination. Eating out is not only socially acceptable, but also a sign of carefree affluence. Eating a meal delivered directly to the window of your beloved new car makes people feel that owning a car is allowed from time to time.

The once dense orange groves on the road are now dotted with fast food restaurants. Hamburg suddenly became a cliche when a pile of ground beef was regarded as tasteless and suspicious Gloppe meatballs. But to the consternation of this family-conscious person, the food in these stalls is not all. Driving in has become a minefield of bad behavior. Wandering teenagers are everywhere. They smoke, blow up jukeboxes and play sexual pranks in the parking lot with the help of their employees. The employees seem to toss and turn in front of the revolving door; Employees either quit or don't put on a show, which often puts their employers in trouble.

none of this will reduce sales. A steady stream of customers let 21 drivers jump around, and the parking lot is full of parking spaces for 125 cars, which is a place for the younger generation to enter the city. Faced with this success, in 1948, Dick and Mike made a bold, perhaps stupid decision, stepped back, reassessed, closed their doors and waited for a while. Dick and Mike ask themselves how to prepare hamburgers, French fries and milkshakes as effectively as possible. They want to know, how can they streamline their business to maximize profits? How can they distinguish themselves from other drivers? How can they speed up the service? "

In their search for answers, they got inspiration from Levitt, a roller coaster in the East. This enterprising family applied the logic of Ford's T-shaped assembly line to the housing construction in Long Island, new york, where a large number of houses were needed to meet the rapidly expanding suburbs. The goal of the McDonald brothers is to imitate this prefabricated thinking when preparing and serving food: "Leviton on bread."

First, the two brothers analyzed their business receipts to determine the best-selling products, and cut the menu from 25 products to 9 most popular products, instead of eating expensive labor-intensive barbecues. Dick surreptitiously disguised himself as a freelance writer and ventured to Los Angeles to find out business secrets from the candy industry. He found inspiration in the cone of a handmade candy machine used to make mint pie. Dick invited a friend with a mechanical mind to design an automatic condiment dispenser, which can accurately spray ketchup or mustard at the press of a button. A mechanical press that quickly forms beef patties. In order to meet the demand for milkshakes, Dick and Mike bought eight state-of-the-art mixers, called multi-mixers, which enabled them to produce five cups of foamed drinks at a time on each machine. The extra can be put in the refrigerator, ready to go. Crucially, in the new business model of the brother company, customers are not allowed to ask for replacement. The brothers said that they provided choices and accelerated the pace.

to carry out the next stage of renovation, they retreated to the tennis court behind their home in the dark. They used a thick piece of red chalk to plan this action, and designed an assembly line for food preparation and distribution. Workers can barbecue meat (41 patties in 111 seconds) and French fries (911 servings per hour) most effectively on the assembly line, and send the whole meal to hungry customers within 21 seconds. After they stopped, a rare desert rainstorm came and washed away the traces they had drawn. The next day, the Stokes conspired again.

This hamburger dance helps Dick and Mike solve the problem of expensive personnel. Attractive car drivers are quickly driven out of the picture: customers will have to get off the bus and go to the window to order food. When they are there, they can stare into the "fish tank" and marvel at their elaborate and efficient kitchen for preparing food. The new employees are all men, wearing neat and conservative paper hats and white uniforms, instilling in them a clean and precise atmosphere of surgery. The two brothers believe that female employees bring unnecessary interference.

the cost table of reincarnation surgery is. Considering the lower labor cost, the brothers can now charge a few cents less than the petition. A hamburger is 15 cents, a bag of French fries is 11 cents, and a milkshake with triple cream is 21 cents. Dick and Mike are counting on their reduced operating costs and a lot of sales to make considerable profits. Some people drove into the parking lot, but no one jumped out of the car, so they drove away. Others feel sorry for the old, longer menus and the inability to customize them. The two brothers began to let the employees park their cars in front of the restaurant, so the place didn't look very good. Plastic surgery is a disaster.

in the past four months, a miraculous turn for the better has taken place for no particular reason. Taxis came, followed by construction workers, followed by children. Soon, rows of hungry customers began to fill the counter, and the appearance of these customers attracted others. Sales are so hot that the two brothers put up a picture on the front window with a rising thermometer, which is a neat picture to show off sales. Dick said that when the number reaches 1 million, the artist will add an explosion to the top. Profits quickly soared to a huge profit of $ million a year, which allowed them to participate in their personal car fantasies and upgrade to the latest Cadillac on the market, including three Cadillac, including one for Mac's wife. Dick is not married. )

Hamburg searchers really seem willing to exchange speed and price for their choices. The quality of food is not the main attraction. Perhaps, the brothers' French fries are an exception, it is a model of crispness and freshness. Mike has a wizard who opens potatoes, uses chemical principles and perfects the formula through hard experiments and mistakes. The magic step is to dry the tawny Idaho in desert air to decompose the sugar content, which is a key step if it takes time. Patience is as noble as accuracy: improper blanching, or trying to speed up the process in any way, will certainly produce greasy and soft potatoes, just as the petition said. This is an arena in McDonald's recasting formula. In this arena, slowness and caution are essential and permissible ingredients.

In addition to the long queue, the two brothers have another sign that they have a blow. Maybe the imitator came to study the ballet performance displayed behind the shop window. Dick and Mike happily shared business secrets when these imitators asked them about details they couldn't see. Finally, they realized that they could put a price tag on their formula and then pay more cash. In 1952, after Primex, their quick-frozen supplier, published an article in American Restaurant magazine praising McDonald's French fries business for several months, the brothers also placed an advertisement themselves. They promised readers "the most important 61 seconds in a lifetime", and the

of the advertising center is their unique hexagonal building, which shines brightly. Their "revolutionary development of catering industry" has now been sold to all parties concerned. A cover story is exactly the same as this hype, boasting that McDonald's "sells 1 million hamburgers and 161 tons of French fries every year" and discloses a huge total income of $277,111 per year. That's it. For aspiring hamburger tycoons, San Bernardo became Oz.

the more honest people in this group invested $951 in the franchise fee for this formula, instead of just visiting and stealing ideas. At the top of the list was Neil Fox, an oil executive in Phoenix, whose family thought he was a madman who jumped into the déclassé hamburger racket. Dick and Mike think Fox is crazy, too, because they want to use their own names instead of their own. They say that the word "McDonald's" has no meaning outside San Bernardino. Fox explained to his brothers that he thought their names were "lucky".

In addition to their names, in order to make money, Fox got an operation manual, and a staff member who had been seconded for a week showed him the ropes. Moreover, after the brothers re-conceived the idea of driving in.