HOW THE US ARMY INSPIRED THE FIRST MCDONALD’S DRIVE-THRU

America has more than its share of iconic brands, companies whose very logos are recognizable to people all over the world. And whatever your personal opinion on their products and/or corporate practices, one of the most globally-known American businesses, with its menu of some of the most consumed products from Washington, D.C. to Tokyo, Japan and everywhere in between, is McDonald’s. Founded by the two McDonald Brothers in 1940 and eventually expanded into a globe-spanning food phenomenon, the burger chain of the golden arches is widely considered the driving force behind the explosive expansion of the concept of “fast food.”

By the early 1970s, McDonalds was the leader in most aspects of that industry. But several other, less widespread brands operated multiple restaurants that featured something no Mickey D’s had: a drive-thru. A way for folks to order, pay for, and pick up food without ever leaving their cars or relying on waitstaff. But in 1974 they decided they ought to change that for a number of reasons. Among them, the hundreds of hungry US Army Soldiers stationed at Fort Huachuca, Arizona.

The Early History of McDonald’s

McDonald’s began as a small burger restaurant in San Bernardino, California opened and operated by brothers Maurice “Mac” and Richard McDonald. In 1948 they revamped the way their employees cooked meals into something reminiscent of a factory assembly line, their “Speedee Service System,” which allowed them to fulfill customers’ orders with unprecedented speed and efficiency.

Their increasing demand for equipment caught the attention of milkshake machine salesman Ray Kroc, who helped the brothers turn their small chain of restaurants into a country-spanning franchise and eventually bought them out of the company that bears their name in 1961.

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In the decades that followed, McDonalds introduced many of its iconic products and features: the clown character Ronald McDonald became the persona representing the brand in 1963. Five years later the restaurant added the Big Mac to the menu. And in 1975, after months of planning and development, they opened their very first drive-thru.

The First Drive-Thrus

McDonalds did not come up with the concept of grabbing food on the go without ever leaving your automobile. In fact, the idea predates the very existence of the restaurant chain by nearly two decades: in 1921 a Texas-based restaurant chain named the Pig Stand opened the very first drive-in eatery (where waiters and waitress took orders and delivered food without customers leaving their cars) on a highway between Dallas and Fort Worth.

In 1947, a restaurant on Route 66 where it runs through the town of Springfield, Missouri named Red's Giant Hamburg opened the first true drive-thru, where customers could order, pay for, and receive their food through a window and drive off to eat it wherever they chose.

The California-based In-N-Out Burger chain built on this idea in 1948 (the same year the McDonald brothers introduced their unique system of meal construction) by putting up two-way speakers boxes that allowed diners to put in their orders before pulling to a service window, further streamlining the process and creating the earliest version of the drive-thrus most in-car-eaters are familiar with today.

The Sierra Vista McDonald’s and Fort Huachuca

Despite its obvious convenience and appeal, McDonald’s did not immediately adopt the drive-thru concept.

It wasn’t until 1974 that several regional managers brought the idea up to then-company vice president Brent Cameron. The initial plan was to try out the concept at an Oklahoma City location, but a remodeling project put that on hold. Nevertheless, the idea continued to intrigue persons with the company, among them Dave Rich, manager of a McDonald’s in Sierra Vista, Arizona, a town just five miles east of the US Army’s Fort Huachuca.

At the time, Soldiers could not leave their vehicles while wearing their standard daily uniforms. Rich decided to capitalize on this by cutting a hole in the side of his restaurant, turning it into a window, setting up an intercom, and opening the very first McDonald’s drive-thru on January 24th of 1975. All because he wanted to sell food to troops operating out of the nearby base.

The Military and Drive-Thrus Today

Nowadays, drive-thrus are more of a convenience than a necessity for many members of the Armed Forces. But not all.

While some branches allow their personnel to wear their everyday camouflage uniforms anywhere they like, others bar the practice. Specifically, the Marines do not allow their troops to wear their iconic MARPAT uniforms off-base (with forgiveness extended in the case of an emergency or otherwise unavoidable stop during transit).

And rules aside, the fast-paced nature of military life means troops can’t afford the precious time it takes to leave their vehicle to grab a meal, even if it’s not against their branch’s regulations.

As for McDonald’s, their drive-thru windows now account for approximately 70% of their total sales. And given that McDonald’s has more than 44,000 locations across the world, that means the company earns a colossal amount of money off an initiative that began with an idea to sell burgers to hungry Soldiers.

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