McDonald's, a world-famous franchise, began as a small hamburger stand in San Bernardino, California. The company was started by brothers Mac and Dick McDonald and Ray Kroc visited their restaurant in 1954. A year later, he founded the McDonald's Corporation, based on the successful hamburger stand run by the McDonald brothers. Three years after the creation of the McDonald's franchise, it sold its 100 millionth hamburger. What factors led to McDonald's national and international success in the 1970s? McDonald's national and international success in the 1970s was due to its menu options, cleanliness, and worldwide distribution. McDonald's success has been achieved through its menu options due to its cheap prices, good taste and multiple choices. Ray Kroc, the founder of the McDonald's franchise, employed teenagers to lower prices. These low prices allowed working families to feed their children restaurant food, which was not very common at the time. Because most people could afford these meals, many went to McDonald's for a meal. Even though these prices weren't very high, McDonald's still made a lot of money from the high concentration of people dining there. An immigrant from Moscow, traveling to Boston, had his first encounter with McDonald's in 1981. One day he went out to lunch while at work. He passed many restaurants, but he stopped in front of a restaurant "all red and yellow, and very well lit." The prices were perfect for [his] wallet. As an immigrant, he doesn't have a lot of money, so even if he has enough, almost everyone has the amount of money to buy a hamburger at McDonald's. Every person who has come to McDonald's since its inception mentions...... middle of paper ...... Grinding: the creation of McDonald's. Contemporary Books, 1977. Pace, Eric. "Ray A. Kroc dies at 81; built McDonald's chain." New York Times, January 15, 1984. Secondary sources: Boym, Constantin. “My McDonald’s.” JSTOR. 2001. Accessed March 22, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/gfc.2001.1.1.6. "History of McDonald's Restaurants :: AboutMcDonalds.com." History of McDonald's Restaurants :: AboutMcDonalds.com. Accessed April 15, 2014. http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/our_company/mcdonalds_history_timeline.htmlMcDonald's. “Our story.” :: McDonalds.com. Accessed March 25, 2014. http://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/our_story/our_history.html. O'Brien, Keith. “How McDonald’s came back bigger than ever.” Edited by Dean Robinson. New York Times, May 4, 2012. Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: the dark side of the American meal. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001.