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White Castle Opens
This was the beginning of the fast food evolution when White Castle first opened, but some argue that it was McDonalds. This marked the first time Fast Food was ever introduced. -
Drive Thru is Introduced
The first Drive Thru dates back to 1947 when a place named Red's Giant Hamburg from Springfield, Missouri opened the first drive thru at a fast food restaurant. Today drive thru at fast food restaurants has a HUGE affect on health in the US and has changed a lot from automatic windows to not having to go inside to pay. The average american family spends close to $1,200 per year at fast food restaurants in drive thru. Overall Drive Thru has affected us americans in a good and bad way. -
Fast Food Blows Up
This event is very important because more and more people started eating fast food. This was the year the Meriam Webster Dictionary included Fast Food as an official word. White Castle burgers started becoming an diet of American Families throughout the US. -
Grand Opening of McDonalds
Today, McDonalds is one of the biggest and best fast food industries and has had an impact on diets, health and the way we eat. It has mostly impacted us in bad ways dealing with our health, including a documentary about a man who had only McDonalds for 30 days, "Super-Size Me". -
McDonalds Becomes Huge
During the Grand Opening hundreds and hundreds of people gathered in to have a hamburger, following thousands the next day. The first McDonalds can still be visited today in 10207 Lakewood Boulevard at Florence Avenue in Downey, California. There is confirmation from McDonalds that they have sold over 247 billion hamburgers. -
More Than Ten Items on The Menu
After places like Wendy's and Burger King had opened during the 1960's, this was the first time more than 10 items on the menu were introduced. Often on the menu there was just burgers and french fries but, when more and more fast food restaurants started to open items like chicken nuggets, ICEES, frosty's and more came to be. -
McDonalds Opens its First Restaurant Abroad
This was the first time you saw a restaurant like McDonalds open a restaurant somewhere other than the US and pop up in other countries + continents. They ended up becoming even bigger in these other countries because in the other places fast food was still fairly new as it was in the US. McDonalds even expanded to Asia during the 1970's. -
Playgrounds in Fast Food Restaurants
During the mid 1980's McDonald's and places like Chuck E Cheese started installing small playground areas with slides and fun activities. Believe it or not, they started doing this to draw more people in and get people to stay longer. By doing this it attracted many children to want to come back several times more. -
Fast Food Industries Get Sued
As time went on fast food became a regular diet for most families in the US. They became very popular and a daily eat for many people that are today, obese. Because of people becoming obese and having heart problems, people started suing fast food companies. They blamed them for their conditions and for charging 40 cents more than they should. A man even made a documentary about having only McDonald's for 30 days straight, the name of this is "Super Size Me" -
Fast Food Today
Today fast food has had many many MANY impacts on our childhood, society and health. Because of being sued for millions McDonald's started to cut down on fat and sodium in their meat and fries. Following what McDonald's did other fast food restaurants like Taco Bell, Wendy's and Burger King followed by cutting down on fat and sodium as well. White Castle still exists but is not as popular as it used to be.
