Ray’s 411 He was born on October 5, 1902 in Oak Park, Illinois. At 15, he lied about his age to be able to work for the Red Cross driving ambulances. After the war, he had to find a job, but it was hard. He ended up playing piano and later working for the Lily Tulip Cup Co.

Roy was fascinated at the idea of a machine which made labor faster and more efficient He was a war veteran from the Great War. After years of McDonald’s success, Ray died on January 14, 1984 in San Diego, California.

The Beginning of McDonalds… In 1954, Ray was traveling through San Bernardino, California He went to a restaurant owned by two brothers, Dick and Mac McDonald He was astounded at how well the machines functioned to make quality food.

During this time, drive-in restaurants were extremely popular, but at this restaurant, people had to get out of their cars and get their meals. The menu of the restaurant was very simple: hamburgers, cheeseburgers, french fries, milk shakes, and soda pop. They kept their prices as cheap as possible, which helped their success.

That day, Ray thought about opening the restaurants all over the country. The next day, Ray told the McDonald brothers about his idea. They asked who would open the other restaurants for them, and Ray volunteered. 7 years later, he convinced the McDonald brothers to sell the company to him. They accepted his offer, and for 2.7 million dollars, Ray bought the multi- billion dollar restaurant.

Ray’s OWN McDonald’s Ray essentially kept the restaurants operating just as Dick and Mac had done. He changed some things, but the original ideas and fundamentals of McDonald’s stayed the same. "If you have time to lean, you have time to clean." Everything from the parking lot to the kitchen floor to employee uniforms were essential for cleanliness in the restaurants.

Mickey D’s Growing Popularity By 1963, more than 1 billion hamburgers had been sold, so each restaurant modeled a large neon sign which kept count of how many billions sold. That year, Ronald McDonald was introduced and McDonald’s opened its 500 th restaurant.

McDonald’s was so popular that in 1965, 96% of all American children knew who Ronald McDonald. That percentage was far larger than the amount of kids who could name the President of the United States. When McDonald’s decided to open up nationally, not many changes were needed. McDonald’s are located in more then 114 countries world-wide, and represent the same, great, American tastes.

Life After McDonald’s Ray tried to move forward with upscale hamburger restaurants, German-tavern restaurants, pie shops, and even theme parks, like Disneyland. Even though most of his ideas failed, he always had a keen sense of the power of novelty and a strong belief in himself and his vision. Although he didn’t create McDonald’s, Ray had the ability to take a concept and make it the best possible.

Ray’s Mission and the Secret to his Success "The definition of salesmanship is the gentle art of letting the customer have it your way." Ray always said quality, service, cleanliness, and value were the unwavering mission of McDonald's.