where was the first mcdonald's restaurant opened
History of McDonald's
1963 : One of Kroc 's marketing insights is his decision to advertise McDonald 's hamburgers to families and children . Washington , D.C. franchisees John Gibson and Oscar Goldstein ( Gee Gee Distributing Corporation ) sponsor a children 's show on WRC - TV called Bozo the Clown , a franchised character played by Willard Scott from 1959 until 1962 . After the show was cancelled , Goldstein hires Scott to portray McDonald 's new mascot , named Ronald McDonald . According to Scott , they wanted to pay him in stock , but Scott decided to take the money . Scott , looking nothing like the familiar appearance of any McDonaldland character as is known today , appeared in the first three television advertisements featuring the character . After changing the character 's first name to `` Ronald '' and replacing Scott with a new actor , and giving him the more familiar red , white , and yellow clown features , the character eventually spreads to the rest of the country via an advertising campaign . Years later , an entire cast of `` McDonaldland '' characters is developed .
1963 : One of Kroc 's marketing insights is his decision to advertise McDonald 's hamburgers to families and children . Washington , D.C. franchisees John Gibson and Oscar Goldstein ( Gee Gee Distributing Corporation ) sponsor a children 's show on WRC - TV called Bozo the Clown , a franchised character played by Willard Scott from 1959 until 1962 . After the show was cancelled , Goldstein hires Scott to portray McDonald 's new mascot , named Ronald McDonald . According to Scott , they wanted to pay him in stock , but Scott decided to take the money . Scott , looking nothing like the familiar appearance of any McDonaldland character as is known today , appeared in the first three television advertisements featuring the character . After changing the character 's first name to `` Ronald '' and replacing Scott with a new actor , and giving him the more familiar red , white , and yellow clown features , the character eventually spreads to the rest of the country via an advertising campaign . Years later , an entire cast of `` McDonaldland '' characters is developed .