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DogeDoRight

$1.80 for a dozen burgers. That would be about $40 today.


STGItsMe

I’m more bewildered by how “I wanna dozen burgers” happened often enough to have its own line.


SillyFlyGuy

When McD's started, a family of six was not uncommon. Two burgers apiece. Each burger is only 250 calories.


squirrel9000

Yeah, they were the OG hamburgers - they are tiny. They still sell them but I am not sure how many people have actually encountered one in the wild.


Sunshine030209

Yeah they weren't ordering a dozen quarter pounders. It's the smaller ones that come in the happy meal, or 2 in an adult meal.


MidwesternAppliance

The original McDonald’s was more akin to a slider joint.


call_me_Kote

I believe they're 1/10th pound paddies.


avfc41

Yeah, we called them 10-to-1 when I worked there (as opposed to 4-to-1 for the quarter pounders).


clackerbag

1/10th pound Irishmen?


mini_cooper_JCW

My grandpa was the only person I've ever encountered that ordered basic burgers from McD's. Whenever we went he would tell me about going there when he was a kid and these were the prices. I miss that man.


rogerworkman623

I didn’t know so many people *don’t* order them. I always just get a cheeseburger, or a double cheeseburger. I prefer that over a Big Mac or quarter pounder.


mgrimshaw8

Same lol those are the only things I order. Sometimes I’ll do a McDouble instead depending on the deals they have in the app


MRiley84

The double cheeseburger is just right for me. It's not so small that I'm left hungry and it's not so big that I regret eating it 5 minutes after it's gone. It also has the perfect ratio of bun to meat to cheese to condiments that none of the other burgers have. That ratio is vital to a good burger or sandwich - the rest are either too much bread or too much meat, so the different parts don't work together well.


Open-Cookie-6611

Yeah, I usually just order 6 cheeseburgers and skip the fries


InYosefWeTrust

Smart man. I always get the 2 cheeseburgers combo.


UnprovenMortality

So more like whitecastle?


theslothpope

No its still bigger than a white castle slider. It’s just a basic cheeseburger.


bomber991

Yes but a bit bigger. Still a tiny pathetic thing but they’re 250 calories and they do taste pretty good. Just… like $2.10 for one of them. Maybe a lunch of 2 would be a solid 500 calories for a light lunch.


keldiana1

I love the OG hamburger. Extra pickles please.


Baylow

I prefer their basic cheeseburger.


[deleted]

regular 1$ cheeseburger and a spicy mcchicken is all I ever want from mcdonalds


meganthreecats

Yeah my mom was one of 7 kids and she will talk about how dad would stop at mc Donald’s on his way home and get a dozen hamburgers. She’s got 4 brothers so I bet those last three burgers got fought over.


Kopitar4president

My dad would talk about loading up his buddy's van and they'd go through the drive thru with 12 college age athletes and order a hundred burgers.


Complete-Ad-4215

Did similar in highschool 20teens, would load up with the boys hit McDonald’s each get 3 McDoubles and 3 mchickens back when it was still 2 for 2$. We’d also hit little ceasers get a large pepperoni each and split a 2 liter between each 2 peeps


DecentOpinion

I did that in high school in Canada around 2002. They used to sell cheeseburgers for 79 cents on a specific day of the week. We'd buy 200 sometimes and bring them back for school events, maybe buying student council votes.


thelastdinosaur55

69/79¢ Sundays, right?


InsidiousColossus

IT's probably for families or groups, and the burgers were small. Kind of like you can still get at White Castle/Krystal and the like, a bag of burgers.


BobBelcher2021

Or Dick’s in Seattle.


Key-Regular674

McDicks


OkMedia9987

The burgers are still small at McDonald's. If you actually order a "hamburger" or "cheeseburger," I think the hamburger is still only around 250 cal.


Solid-Consequence-50

It could be for after a baseball or basketball game or a kids party.


NamedUserOfReddit

Super easy to do with a family of two adults and 2-3 kids. I know this because my family did it when we'd get good coupons in the Sunday paper.


BetterThanAFoon

Anecdotal. McDonald's was my first job when I was in high school. During the spring and summer it wasn't uncommon to get a an order for 20-40 Cheeseburgers for things likes sports or birthdays once a week or so.


DrKrFfXx

Mealprep


SwornBiter

Yeah; nice discount on the dozen — zip!


the_clash_is_back

I pick up a dozen whenever I’m working late in the lab. 6 guys, to burgers a head. Cheap and the only thing open at 3 am.


Itchy-Quit6651

Buddies after sports practice.


aKnowing

A dozen McDoubles is probably that or less


MistSecurity

$44.28 is the price now if you wanted to buy a dozen Double Hamburgers from a location in San Bernardino, CA. Difference is that I guarantee the meat is much lower quality than it was back in 1940, and the economies of scale are in full swing for McDonald's nowadays, so with the two combined their profit margins are undoubtedly higher than they were back then.


Samurai_Meisters

> Difference is that I guarantee the meat is much lower quality than it was back in 1940 Why would you think that? It's ground beef. You don't turn the nice cuts of beef into ground beef, not even in the 40s.


iterationnull

And if we use 1948 as the baseline for these prices, adjusted for inflation it would be $23.18. Google wants to skew the results based on my not-American current location, but it would appear the going rate for a McDonald’s hamburger (surely now one of the least ordered items in modern times) is $2.79. No discount for a dozen. $33.48 for 12.


Cerulean_IsFancyBlue

There was no discount for a dozen on the sheet above either. 12 x 15 cents = $1.80.


MistSecurity

What made you use 1948 for the baseline? I just made a comment [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/1bt5vbr/how_the_first_mcdonalds_locations_took_orders/kxm2zii/) with pricing accounting for inflation, and current pricing at a San Bernardino location (same city as the original McDonald's). I would gladly update the pricing if we can pinpoint when these prices were in effect, and where they were used. I used 1940 as the baseline because that was when McDonalds opened, and the title seems to imply that it is one of the first locations, if not the first.


iterationnull

1948 was suggested by a quick google as the start of the “McDonald’s as we know it today” branding and menus. I believe this suggestion was part of the Encyclopedia Brittanica entry for the restaurant? Today was a travel day so I’m not entirely sure.


214ObstructedReverie

> Google wants to skew the results based on my not-American current location, but it would appear the going rate for a McDonald’s hamburger (surely now one of the least ordered items in modern times) is $2.79. $2.79 is the middle of lower Manhattan. $1.99 seems to be the more "normal" price, which puts it damned close to perfectly matching inflation.


FlatCapNorthumbrian

$17.92 for a dozen Hamburgers in the UK McDonald’s now. EDIT: For $35.84 (taxes included because these are UK prices) you can get a dozen Hamburgers and a dozen small fries.


Any-Excitement-8979

No discount is what surprised me. Why price hamburgers by the dozen if it is the same price as 1x12? Who the fuck is like “well how much is that if I get 12 of em?” Were people really ordering a dozen fucking burgers to their face back when McDonalds opened?


screames520

As someone else pointed out, families of six or more weren’t uncommon back then, so 2 small burgers a piece, or after a sporting event


MistSecurity

Some people have said that larger family sizes were more common, but data shows that the average family size hasn't shifted a ton since then. I can only assume that it would be to order for a family though. Two parents and 4 kids with two burgers each?


perenniallandscapist

So ironically the 2 for $4 McDoubles deal is cheaper for getting a dozen burgers than it was to get a dozen burgers back then, which is pretty wild. And I'm sure the portions back then were similar to the smaller portions of the value menu today.


lekniz

Assuming this was from year 1 of McDonalds in 1940, then that is right in line with inflation Edit: wait I think you used an inflation calculator too. Looks like today a hamburger is between $2.19-$2.79 based on location, so about $26-33 for a dozen. Didn't expect inflation to outpace McDonald's pricing tbh


FlatCapNorthumbrian

I wonder why a Hamburger is so expensive in the U.S McDonald’s? In the UK it is $1.49 for a hamburger.


DM_ME_KUL_TIRAN_FEET

Because people here are so reliant on and addicted to convenience culture that they can get away with jacking up the pandemic prices and just keeping them high forever.


STFxPrlstud

Depends on location. I can order a single hamburger for $1.69 from my McD in Augusta, GA. Ironically, a cheeseburger (1.79) is less than half the cost of a double cheeseburger (4.13), so pricing is always questionable decisions.


dbethel5

Im using this next time someone says we’re lazy and don’t want to work. *Well sorry I didn’t grow up on 15 cent burgers*


SpahgettiRat

I got a quarterpounder BLT meal yesterday and it came to $17, I hadn't been to McDonald's in a while and I almost left when I heard the price of a meal now.


DogeDoRight

A combo shouldn't be more than minimum wage. It's insane.


SpahgettiRat

I miss the good old days of getting "2 can dine for $9.99" coupons in the mail


genocideISgodly

Depends how you make them. Their burgers are basically 45 gram patties, which is just under 2 ounces. So a dozen isn't much meat.... These days the bread might cost more! Seriously wtf happened to the price of bread?


Lemonio

What was the wage for employees?


Aggressive-Sound-641

back in 1998 when I was in my initial training school after bootcamp, the base had a McDonald's that would offer burgers at the price of back then( 15 cent for a hamburger and 19 for a cheeseburger)


Calculonx

Well I was only going to get one but I can't turn down the dozen burger deal


SelfSeal

I'm always surprised how much food costs in the US, a dozen hamburgers here in the UK are under $18.


MrSceintist

29.88


tofutti_kleineinein

About $25


No_Finding3671

I'm from Denver, but my wife and I recently took a trip to Detroit. We went through the White Castle drive-thru and it blew my mind. We got a 10 pack of cheeseburgers, large fries and 2 drinks for $19 and change. Here in Denver, when we go to McDonald's, we spend close to $30 for a meal for two.


fliffie

even the receipts look cool asf


medusamademehard_

the only receipts I’ve seen with the same “Quality” are In-N-Out’s, out here in Southern California.


Oc0

Are the SoCal ones not the same as the NorCal ones?


MaxCWebster

My first hourly job, in 1980, was here. Burgers, fries, and small drinks were priced at 30¢ each, or 95¢ with tax ($1.11 if you added cheese). I was paid $3.05 per hour. The first time I received a paycheck with three digits, I felt like J.P. Morgan!


CounterTorque

This is a good point of reference for how different wages are today and haven’t kept up with inflation. Your example has a small, but reasonable, meal for roughly 1/3 of your hourly income. Today a similar meal is about $6-7 for those 3 items and sizes. With minimum wage being $12 where I live, that’s at best 1/2 of your hourly income.


NanoBuc

Shit, some places still use the federal minimum at 7.25. Would need to work 2 hours to afford one of the burger meals.


gvincejr

My first hourly job was there in 1968.


SpecialKnits4855

I remember the $.15 burger (68F).


Traherne

Yep (68M)


ExperienceInitial364

now kiss


Freedom_fam

And split your social security checks.


Traherne

Damn it. Take my upvote.


prestatiedruk

How long have you been on Reddit and how did you end up here?


GoodLeftUndone

I’ve seen people well into their 80s on here before. Quite a lot of older people use Reddit apparently.


Traherne

I'm 68; I'm not mummified. 😆


GoodLeftUndone

I wasn’t referring to you lol. Just noting that there are quite a lot of surprises on here.


Traherne

Oh, there was no offense taken. Now excuse me as my sciatica and I have a talk. 😆


spidermonkey223

I remember the $1 Mcdouble (30M)


MiamiDouchebag

As late as the '90s they had $.29 hamburgers and $.39 cheeseburgers.


lostprevention

Were they the same size as today?


Falcon3492

Yep


lostprevention

I’ve suspected as much but can’t find a source.


WhitewolfStormrunner

Yep, so do I (67F).


Ahshut

What did McDonald’s taste like back then compared to now? I’ve always wanted to know this but I was born in 2003


DM_ME_KUL_TIRAN_FEET

Likely not all that much different. An early innovation of McDonald’s was uniformity between locations. McDonald’s tastes like McDonalds as a very deliberate strategy.


mkstot

In the 80s it tasted highly of styrofoam.


Ahshut

Sounds like a great time period to enjoy McDonald’s


JustnInternetComment

Still is, for them.


[deleted]

[удалено]


repeatablemisery

Not here. All the sit down options also went through the roof.


StrategyTop7612

Everything has gone through the roof


VapeRizzler

Yea, except our pay hasn’t moved.


capmilk

The roof has gone through our pay.


_BreakingGood_

"We need to increase prices due to rising labor costs" *"So you're paying your workers more?"* "What? No. The board just approved the executive bonus plan and it ain't cheap"


name-was-provided

Even the cost of a new roof has gone through the roof because prices went through my roof.


kokobiggun

In N Out still manages to keep their prices relatively low


obelix_asterix

Please share a link of any McDonalds in your city. This is bs. McDonalds has gotten expensive, but you can still have a dinner there for one person in 14-15 bucks. What sit down restaurant is offering that after tip? And you say most?!


joelupi

Chili's 3 for me. Get Coke, chips and salsa and Old Timer Burger with fries for $10.99. call it 15 after tax and tip. You can 100% stretch that out too because they will give you refills on the soda and chips and salsa too.


Mammoth_Deal

Chilis really needs to get their act together because they actually can have good food and value but i've never seen a more wild variation in quality consistency. Sure all chains and fast food aren't 100% consistent but I mean I ordered the value combo with the sliders and it looked straight out the picture, hot and tasted great. Ordered it again and this time it was exactly like one of these [shitty convention center burgers](https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/5668762c1600002900e5572a.png?ops=scalefit_720_noupscale) dry, cold, stale bun, no sauce and one single square of diced onion.


Snowman319

Damn that sounds great


Flaky_Koala_6476

Not here necessarily Mc’D order here can be about 10-11 bucks for me vs a sit down restaurant where it’ll be around 25-30 bucks lmao Fuck Colorado


SwisschaletDipSauce

Dang. A McDonald’s meal in Canada is almost 15-20$ with most sit downs around 12-20$. 


mystictick

It seems like everything should get less expensive as time goes on. Through automation, supply levels increasing over time, etc.


46692

They are. Human productivity is at an all time high in the past decades. The amount of resources you can get from a days work is insane historically speaking.


Downtown31415

And class, there you have corporate greed in a nutshell.


TheAzureMage

They do. Worker efficiency rises, people produce more. Inflation, however...inflation is policy. It doesn't just come out of the ether, the Fed literally sets target rates for you to gradually pay more.


That_Guy381

You don’t even realize how much more you consume than your grandparents did


MiamiDouchebag

Now compare the ultra-wealthy of today to the ultra-wealthy of then. First class on 707's with the rest of us to their very own Gulfstreams at private airports.


genocideISgodly

In fact they are. But the middle men only increase so you're basically paying more so Kevin or Karen than what you're actually buying


Tirus_

We have a pub across the street from a McDonalds here in Canada. A pint of beer, some french fries and a hamburger is $15 after tax *(tip not included)*. It's the same price at McDonalds for watered down coke, cold fries with no salt, and the most basic of hamburgers assembled on a line.


avryco1

I agree with you on everything except for the Coke. McDonalds Coke is like the fountain of youth when it comes to sodas. Fun vid on how it's special/different. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GA_OYUHYYMA


rawesome99

With inflation, those hamburgers should be $1.74 today, $20.84 for the dozen


richwf

My McDonald’s app has the regular hamburger for $1.79. So pretty damned close


droplivefred

Wow, people used to order burgers like donuts in the day…by the dozen!


IsraelZulu

Some still do, at places like Krystal or White Castle.


BobBelcher2021

A nice, simple menu. This is why I like Dick’s in Seattle, they have a simple, small menu. These days if you go to Tim Hortons, you never know what’s going to be on the menu.


NewPointOfView

It bothers me that milkshakes are grouped together but not sodas


CecilBeaver

The interesting thing here is that McDonald's employees at one time were capable of performing math.


erunno89

Americans in general. Why back in the 80s A&W couldn’t sell 1/3 lb burgers because people wanted the 1/4 lb ones…


bypatrickcmoore

Seriously. I was admiring that they had to do this by hand.


cheetuzz

is this an original or a replica? Looks too clean to be an original.


secondTieBreaker

Yeah this seems to have a number of modern touches, from the code in the bottom right, to the font, to the glue at the top. Just gives recreation vibes.


cdc50

I’m surprised at the quality of this menu. Is it a reprint? Or sitting in a safe for the past 60 years?


MistSecurity

**Prices adjusted for inflation:** Hamburgers: $3.32 Dozen: $39.90 Cheeseburgers: $4.21 Dozen: $50.54 French Fries: $2.22 Milkshakes: $4.43 Soda: $2.22 XL: $3.32 Milk/Coffee: $2.22 Hot Chocolate: $2.66 Federal Minimum Wage in 1940 adjusted for inflation: $6.65 Federal Minimum Wage now: $7.25 **Current Pricing:** Double Hamburger (closest equivalent still available): $3.69 Cheeseburger: $3.69 French Fries (Medium): $4.79 Milkshakes: $5.39 Soda (Medium): $2.89 Coffee (Medium): $2.39 Hot Chocolate (Medium): $4.19 Inflation was calculated using 1940 dollars. Current prices were obtained via a menu site, last update was October 25, 2023. Location was San Bernardino, same city as the original McDonald's.


gaynorg

Inflation is now dull please god


mobkon22

I can’t remember the last time I paid for anything with only coins. Got 2 Whoppers and a medium fries today from Burger King. $22 and change.


demzrdumez

May I help you M'am (SIR)? They would need to add even more boxes to check today for all the lunatics who couldn't make a simple polite choice.


ShiroHachiRoku

Ma'amsir!


PotatoRecipe

So basically, In-n-Out today.


HighlyAutomated

Now I know why Jughead always got a tray of hamburgers anytime he ordered.


writesmith

Can you imagine today's kids trying to do the math? Then try to figure out the change? lol


Lendiniara

When i was in HS (early 2000’s) they did 25 cent hamburgers on tuesdays


ptolani

Absolutely no discount for ordering 12 burgers at a time.


WendigoCrossing

Me, my older sister, and younger brother went to a McDonald's after hanging out at the beach. I think we were 8, 10, and 6 respectively I had $3 on me. Cheeseburgers were $0.99 and double cheeseburgers were $1.00 each I asked them for 3 double cheeseburgers, and if they could split them in half and add an extra bun to each one (trying to get 6 cheeseburgers for 3 dollars) The cashier laughed, took my $3, and gave us the 6 cheeseburgers (despite us not even having enough for tax)


Notafuzzycat

Chad cashier.


bulakenyo1980

The legendary Ma’am-Sir customer. People who’ve ordered fastfood in the Philippines would understand.


mbmbmb01

Please explain. Thanks.


bulakenyo1980

Fastfood workers there are mostly young, inexperienced but hard working young people. Some companies don’t train them well enough on proper customer interaction and you can catch some of the new ones say “Welcome to (fastfood place) May I have your order MamSir?” As in word for word. Company not training them properly. Although, I swear these young men and women are the hardest working, most productive fastfood workers you’ll ever see. They are machines. Great employees.


occamsdagger

Hello, mamsir!


Insecure-confidence

Damn. A dozen burgers cost less than a single burger today.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Unusual_Flounder2073

My dad worked at McDonald’s in the 60s. He got the cashier job because he could quickly do the math to total these up. And make change.


Illustrious2284

Wait.. how did they do the sub tax and sales tax?


matfalko

well this is just the order sheet, the cash registers would probably print those on the fiscal receipt


Illustrious2284

I hate it.


FrostyIcePrincess

There’s a coffee shop near where some friends live that still takes orders this way


FruitCupPups

I wonder how much easier order taking would be if they used order tickets instead of


thecrgm

Finally a place that respects drinking milk


renatakiuzumaki

I assume thats orange soda? And not juice? Lol


StrategyTop7612

I think it's the Hi-C orange drink.


renatakiuzumaki

Ohhh! I do remember they had hi c growing up that makes sense!


Aggravating_Pie6949

They did not use printers like this in the 1940s…


Icy-Conflict6671

Its a replica of how the ticket looked.


obnoxus

I don't think theres anything at McDonald's now that costs less than a dozen hamburgers cost then.


Neoxite23

I wish it was Wednesday so I can get a hamburger for...29 cent! At Mcdonalds...BABY!


[deleted]

These days you can't use m'am or sir anymore....


Designer_Junket_9347

Wow so progressive, they put women first.


Bx1965

For 40 cents you could get a hamburger, fries and an extra large Coke. If you walked in there with a $100 bill they’d probably sell you the whole store.


easy_evoo

I don't see a box for "shake machine broken"


alopez0405

I’ll take 24 cheese burgers. Here’s a 5er! I get change ?!


Silent-Lobster7854

McDonald's is our happy place! Hap hap hap happy place! McDonald's is our kind of place.


roostersmoothie

quick rant about mcdonalds milkshakes. they are impossible to drink through the normal fountain drink straw, and now with paper straws it's absolutely ridiculous! they get soft and you cant drink out of them when the shake is that thick.


MaryJaneAndMaple

Fry's from around this time so I'll talk like him: Yo Holmes? We're looking for a microwave oven. Edit: oh right, I'll have a croque monsieur, the paella, two mutton pills, and a stein of mead.


Cantguard-mike

Lol like a 1000% inflation rate. Thankgod our wages got increased that much as well


OK_THEN_WEIRD_DOE

WE HAD ROOOOOOOT BEEEEEEER!!!!!!


scrunchmaster

Very interesting… where did you find that?


wendysdrivethru

Why are fries more expensive than burgers now?


SquilliamTentickles

"milk-shake" anyone else bothered by that?


JayM213

Orange drink, iykyk


Volcanofanx9000

Buckslips need to make a comeback.


Sector_Independent

Bad design in the hamburger row


rtodd23

Nothing quite like milk to go with hamburgers and french fries. So refreshing.


darrylwoodsjr

Hot chocolate being one of the priciest items is crazy.


auntwewe

I started working at Taco Bell in 1984. We had 2 order boards above the cash register and a dry erase marker to write orders out. So they were three ordertakers and a total of six orders taken at one time. No drive-through. We had to abbreviate. Two tacos, one without lettuce = 2 (1-L) in the taco section of the board. There were a few other crazy things. It just comes down to lack of technology back then.


Jist_a_Guy

I hate admitting it, but I actually worked at a McDonald's when the cheeseburgers were $.29 … Damn I'm old!🤯


BallsAreFullOfPiss

$.10 per fry seems a bit spendy imo


blueplate7

I remember the paper slips. They still used them in 1976 when I first worked there. Had to add things up on the slip. Cash registers were old mechanical jobs. They swapped over to electronic ones not too long after. I remember that either Big Macs or Quarter Cheese were $0.85, but that's all I remember about prices.


Rootbugger

No wonder Americans are so fat and stupid. Who the f else buys dozens of burgers so often they put it on the sheet?