You deserve a break today at.....

Monday memories.....Early memories for me always included trips to McDonald´s.  I was present when the first Happy meals were introduced.  Those glorious Happy meals.  Always a cheeseburger, fries, and a drink.  I remember I once in Atlanta when I was with at the time my best friend Dale and his father.  We were getting Happy Meals baby!  Except the father didn´t order me the cheeseburger.  Instead it was a regular boring plain burger.  Oh how a 8 year old heart can break over such trivial matters.  Dale kind of laughed at me how I could get so upset about something so dumb.  But in my mind it was an infamnia which the likes that the Godfather had never seen!

Found one of the original boxes online!  Cool huh? 

One never knew what they were going to get inside a happy meal.  In those early days in the seventies they were kinda junky toys.  They didn´t do the licensing until years later.  But still you had something to walk away with.

One year had these terrific Mcdonald´s plates.  How I loved them and would try to collect them all.  I loved the Mcdonaldland characters.  Mayor McCheese, Hamburgler, Big Mac, Captain Crook etc. They just seemed to have so much fun. 

McDonald´s was SO hot that even in 1976 I believe they released ACTION FIGURES!  I had Ronald and this Mcdonaldland train set.  I loved that talking tree.  I always wanted the other characters but alas I never got them.  Such a letdown.  See the bridge in the shape of the Mcdonald´s logo?  Great stuff.  Today I would probably transport my Marvel Universe figures to Mcdonaldland and have an adventure.  But knowing me I would probably want to army build at least 4 trees...

Ah the Mcdonald glasses.  They made a few sets over the years.  I had the early ones and that was about it.  It is so sad when things get destroyed or one loses out on his youth.  I loved these glasses!  They even made licensed glasses and even Burger King got into the act.  Found a Tweety in Mexico but I broke it.... Come to find out years later there is a metel that leaches off and into your system if you drink of them.  Oh well.  I became a metelhead later in life....Hardy har har....

This is a 1979 decoder page calender.  Loved the images on this thing.  See the Hamburgler in the right corner.  This was around the time I became obsessed with Halloween.  Which probably is another reason why I started the Monster Cafe Saltillo!

This was the granddaddy of them all!  The Mcdonaldland play area outside most Mcdonalds!  I went into the Big Mac once.  I was SO afraid of getting trapped in it though.  There was a place that sold big antique things in Chamblee Atlanta where they had some of this for sale.  If I ever become rich I will get one to put in my backyard!  Sadly Mcdonalds playareas are terrible now.  No originality like in the past.  Mcdonalds has dumped all of their characters save Ronald...HR Pufnstuff sucessfully sued them for gimmick infringement!  Hmm...Guess which one is still around.  Puf and the gang have gone the way of the Dinosaur but Ronald is still around.  Makes one wonder...Yeah, I am biased against Puf.   I have seen some Mcdonalds owners have even made a theme restaurant out of Mcdonalds.  One in North Georgia had a rock theme going on.  If I ever opened one I would go seventies all the way!  I would bring back all the beloved characters!

Even Eddie Murphy got into the act in his show RAW released in 86.  He talked about his momma making him a burger BETTER than Mcdonalds.  The Green bell peppers gave momma away.  Murphy had to go outside with his house burger...

Around the time of 86 or 87 Mcdonalds released these awesome Mac the Knife or is it Mac the night toys..?  Oh well brainfart.  My friend Kyle had these as he worked there.  Something about that little moon shaped guy always appealed to me.

 Then of course as time went on I became a teenager and it still was cool to go to Mcdonald´s.  Used to have pickle races.  I had gotten other friends by then and one of them was named Aaron.  Bad seed but still....We would take the pickles out of our quarter pounders and fling them up against the Mcdonald´s glass hoping no one had seen us and see them disgustingly slide down to see whose pickle would come out to the champion by hitting the floor first.

Then sometime in 2007 or so the Mcdonaldland toys were rereleased but by that time I was living in Mexico and could not obtain them!  Arghhh!  Maybe one day.  But I noticed something else....The new company NOT Remco I think named Huckleberry toys also released the Fry guys who were not even created yet when the first series came out way back in the seventies.  I have looked online for them but have found nothing.  As Chevy Chase in Fletch said....Gosh don don...Does anyone know if they were released in blogland?

My buddy and I just hanging out swapping memories...

Hey!  Who is that clown my wife is with?