McDonald's Took An Unexpectedly Long Time To Add Fries To Its Menu

Arguably one of the most iconic menu items from McDonald's is its french fries. Often regarded as some of the best fast food french fries, you'd think they've been around for forever. But actually, McDonald's took an unexpectedly long time to add fries to its menu. 

The global restaurant chain opened its first location in California in 1940, and the original menu offered customers potato chips instead of french fries. At this time in the 1940s, the classic menu item customers went to McDonald's for was the chain's 15 cent hamburger. It wasn't until nine years later that french fries replaced the chips. 

So what spurred this switch in side items? Well, the lack of fries was not unique to McDonald's at this time — it applied to every American fast food chain. French fries are a European invention, and it took quite a long time for those crispy potatoes to reach the United States.

It's shocking to think that McDonald's did not always have one of its most famous side items, but they weren't the only fast food chain lacking in fries. It was only less than a hundred years ago that french fries became a hot commodity around the world, and its popularity in America is thanks to the enthusiasm of a few soldiers from World War I.

Potato chips are an American invention, so they were often the go-to side dish for most fast food establishments before the last 1940s. While there is a lot of speculation about how french fries moved in to replace chips, many point to World War I as being the catalyst. French fries were becoming a big street food all across Europe during this time, particularly in Belgium, and American soldiers returned home from the war overseas wanting more. 

Slowly, where fast food joints were once selling chips, they began selling french fries. White Castle was one of the very first fast food chains to do so in the 1940s,but they were quickly followed by others such as McDonald's in 1949.

If you were surprised by McDonald's latent addition of fries to its menu, you might be similarly shocked by the timeline of these other popular McDonald's items. Upon first opening its doors, McDonald's menu looked a lot different than it does today. The chain started out as a local Bar-B-Que restaurant that sold smoked meats, ham, chili, and even peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches. The chain decided to push the restaurant in a different direction in 1948 and reduced its menu down to nine familiar items including soft drinks, potato chips, and its iconic hamburgers. French fries, of course, appeared just a year after the switch.

As McDonald's grew bigger, it decided to expand its menu once again, and soon the classic Filet-O-Fish made its debut in 1965.This was the first non-hamburger entree the chain offered on its national menu. Another one of the most popular menu items, the Big Mac, didn't come around until 1968. Upon its introduction, the chain dubbed the Big Mac "the meal disguised as a sandwich" for its size. McDonald's hoped this addition would bring in more adult cusomters. 

While our favorite fast food items haven't been around forever, it has certainly been a while and we couldn't imagine McDonald's without these classic menu items.