In 2024, McDonald's tapped into its fans' nostalgic love of collectible items from its past and released a set of six glasses with its Collector's Meal. Upon their launch, Daily Meal sat down with Mike Bullington, senior archives manager at McDonald's Corporation, to not only discuss these new glasses, but to also reminisce about McDonald's cups and glassware throughout the years. Bullington said, "As I like to say, everyone has a story about McDonald's, and by looking at these cups, it's going to rekindle memories.
My job is to tell the story of McDonald's." With the help of Bullington as the keeper, minder, and reminder of the company's vast trove of treasures, we dug deep to help tell the story of McDonald's, specifically through its cups and glassware. Here are all the fun facts you probably didn't know about these famous cups throughout the years.
1. The first McDonald's character to be featured on a cup was Speedee By 1948, McDonald's perfected assembly line process was given the name "Speedee Service System." Along with it came the winking chef mascot, who appeared on the company's sign.
By 1954, that mascot gained a fitting name — Speedee — which began to adorn bags, wrappers, containers, and wax paper cups. When McDonald's shifted its message to "Look for the Golden Arches" in 1960, Speedee was phased out within two years and replaced by an arched, slanted "M" logo. According to former franchisee Bill Foshee, Speedee's demise was also precipitated to avoid confus.
