McDonalds Anniversary Ad – July 22, 1964

Sixty years ago today, McDonald's ran the above ad in the Journal on July 22, 1964, announcing an Anniversary Festival at its two locations in Lorain: 2500 West Erie Avenue, and 1342 Colorado Avenue.

Some of the enticements to attend the gala event included free balloons for the kiddies, more than 100 free prizes (dolls, bicycles, games, toys, guest cards), free coffee (that would've worked to lure me in) and cup cakes.

I'm not exactly sure what anniversary was being celebrated. It might have been the one year anniversary of the outlet on Colorado Avenue, which opened on July 30, 1963 (which I wrote about here). The one on West Erie was having its four year anniversary, having opened in June 1960. (The one across from Sheffield Center followed in June 1968).

The ad is kind of nice in that it depicts the old style walk-up design of the beloved fast food giant. The sit-down version of the restaurant was unveiled locally in July 1973.

What's kind of lousy is that all three of the locations above are long-gone. Meanwhile both of Burger King's original locations (on Leavitt Road and Fairless Drive) are still going strong more than 50 years later.

I don't eat at McDonald's (or any fast food outlet) very much any more. This summer I've been trying to support local businesses like Dog N'Suds when I'm too lazy to cook. But I did have a hankering for a vanilla milk shake last week and visited my Vermilion McDonald's. It was great, but the price (almost five bucks) not so much.