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The McDonald's Museum is housed in a replica of the former McDonald's restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois opened by Ray Kroc in 1955. The company usually refers to this as The Original McDonald's, although it was not the first McDonald's restaurant, but the ninth; the first had been opened by Dick and Mac McDonald in San Bernardino, California, in 1940. However, the Des Plaines restaurant marked the beginning of future CEO Kroc's involvement with the firm. It opened under the aegis of his franchising company McDonald's Systems, Inc., which became McDonald's Corporation, as Kroc purchased the McDonald brothers' stake in the firm.

The Des Plaines restaurant was demolished in 1984. McDonald's realized they had a history to preserve, so they constructed a complete replica of the first store on the same spot. With golden arches soaring over a glass and metal, red-and-white tiled exterior, the building largely follows the McDonald brothers' original blueprints, which they had introduced when they began franchising in 1953; a Phoenix, Arizona restaurant was the first built in this manner.

The entrance sign is original, with early cartoon mascot "Speedee," representing the innovative Speedee Service System, inspired by assembly-line production, the McDonald brothers had introduced in 1948. The sign boasts "We have sold over 1 million." The replica museum offers irregular summer hours, and is often closed; tours are by appointment. The ground floor exhibits original fry vats, milkshake Multimixers (which Kroc had sold when he first encountered the San Bernardino McDonald's restaurant), soda barrels and grills, attended to by a crew of male mannequins in 1950s uniforms. Visitors can walk in through the back, or peek through the order windows in front (there was no sit-down restaurant section in 1955). In the basement, a low-ceilinged space with back-lit glass brick walls, is a collection of vintage ads, photos, and a video about McDonald's history.

A new, modern McDonald's was built across the street replacing a Howard Johnson's restaurant (then Ground Round.) Over at the new McDonald's there are a half dozen glass-enclosed exhibits arrayed around the tables including red and white tiles from the original restaurant and string ties worn by employees from the 1950s to the early 1970s.

The oldest operating McDonald's was the fourth one built. It is in Downey, California and opened in 1953.

• Description of museum

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