Since justj and taylhis have gotten me thinking about fast food and their ad campaigns, I began to think about the characters in the Ronald McDonald family. It seems that one of the characters that I do remember became the focus of a lawsuit in the mid-late 1970s. It seems that Mayor McCheese was discontinued as the result of a battle between McDonald’s and Sid and Marty Krofft, creators of H.R. Pufnstuf and Land of the Lost
. By the late 1970s, the entire concept of McDonaldland was all but phased out leaving only a handful of characters. I also remember Grimace, Hamburglar (“Rumble, Rumble”), the Fry Guys, Birdie The Early Bird (introduced when the chain began to promote breakfast on the menu). I also remember having my 6th birthday party at the old McDonalds which has since moved to the busy side of town where Wal-Mart, KMart, and everything else seems to be. What is on the other side of town that once had such life including a drive-in theatre (but that is another story entirely). Wendy’s, Dairy Queen, anything else?
There are also Captain Crook Who peddled Filet O’ Fish sandwiches, the animated pie tree, and a professor who I do not remember at all. And don’t forget Officer Big Mac.
Dollar General and the hardware store are also over on that side of town. Ponderosa vacated also, I’m told. I had a few birthdays at McDonalds – ours had a train that kids could eat in and a large plastic tree you could play on. I once got stuck in the Mayor McCheese piece of playground equiptment – remember the old grimace bouncy cages? There is a house in West Chicago, IL that has a few pieces of the old playground equipment in the yard.
Yep… Wendy’s is now in the building that once housed Pondergrosa.