McDonald's on West Erie Opens – June 29, 1960

Vintage postcard promoting the McDonald's on West Erie Avenue in Lorain

This is rapidly becoming Reader Suggestion Week here on the Brady Blog...

Back in early June, I received an great email from Rick Kurish. He wrote, "Dan, how about the grand opening of McDonald's on West Erie Ave, on June 26, 1960? On summer evenings my parents would pack me and my three brothers into the 1957 Ford Station Wagon and drive to McDonald's for a late night snack. No "Happy Meals" then. You could get a hamburger for 15 cents, or a cheeseburger for 19 cents. The treat I liked was the fries for 10 cents."

Rick's memory is right on the money. You can see for yourself with the price list included on the back of the postcard (below). Also, note the West Erie Avenue address imprint.

It really is strange to think of a time when there were no McDonald's in the area. But on June 24, 1960, this small ad (below) appeared in the back of the Lorain Journal on the same page as the TV listings.

A few days later, the ad below appeared – and the dining scene in Lorain would never be the same.

When I was a kid, there was something exciting about seeing that original restaurant on West Erie with its unique Golden Arches and giant flickering sign featuring an animated Speedee. I would watch for it if we were going to Lakeview Park to check out the fountain on a summer night. 

We didn't eat at McDonald's very often; we went to Sandy's on Meister Road instead. But as Rick noted in his reminisce, back then fast food was a treat. For us, it was a rare treat, reserved for a night when my parents were going out to dinner without us kids.

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The McDonald's on West Erie lasted until the mid-1990s or so. By then, of course, the original walk-up building was a dim memory, replaced by the newer style restaurant that robbed the chain of much of its identity.

The building was eventually modified and became Dianna's Deli Restaurant & Grill. Since then, there have been a variety of other restaurants there, including Yanni's Delicatessen & Restaurant beginning in the late 1990s, Stratos on the Lake, and most recently Route 6 Family Restaurant.

Today the building sits sadly vacant. The McDonald's portion of the building sits near the rear of the property, undisguised.

But it was 54 years ago this weekend that an exciting new era of modern fast food began for us locally.

(I still enjoy a simple McDonald's hamburger now and then for lunch. No fries, though, although they are still the best of all fast food french fries.)