Deep inside McDonald’s Chicago headquarters sits a nondescript room holding 71 years of fast-food history. The McDonald’s archive is a veritable McMuseum, packed with giant stuffed Big Macs, a four-eyed Grimace, shelves of Happy Meal toys and even a 2020 Travis Scott Chicken McNugget body pillow, according to Restaurant Business.
The Most Valuable Piece
Senior archive manager Mike Bullington has overseen the collection for 21 years. He says its most valuable item is a 10-year anniversary ring once worn by founder Ray Kroc. The vault also houses the Multimixer milkshake machines Kroc sold before he met the McDonald brothers in 1954, a pivotal moment in the brand’s origin story.
More Than a Closet of Curiosities
Although the archive is closed to the public, company teams regularly rely on it for research. When McDonald’s upgraded its burgers, for example, Bullington pulled out a 1972 Quarter Pounder training tape for the team to study. “It’s not a closet of curiosities,” he says. “This is a business resource.”
Indeed, the collection shows how brand memory can guide modern decisions, from menu changes to marketing campaigns, by giving teams direct access to what worked, and what looked like, decades ago.
The One That Got Away
Still, one item continues to elude Bullington: a 1983 nine-piece Chicken McNugget box, dating from before the chain switched to 10 pieces in 1993. He already has the six-piece and 20-piece versions, but the nine-piece remains his white whale.
If you happen to have one tucked away in an attic, Bullington would love to hear from you. Consider it a McOffer worth making.