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Twelve fantastic McDonald’s tray covers.


New article, covering thirty years' worth of McDonald's history...as told by one dozen promotional tray covers. Once merely thought of as those sheets of paper that protected loose fries from tray grime, these tray covers are a window into fast food history, and a solid memento of those swank Batman Forever mugs McDonald's used to sell. Read it and weep.

Posted by Matt on 02/19/2007. E-mail me!



Discussion Thread: 255 comments

Just had my first shamrock shake of the year. I don’t feel so good now, but it was still worth it.

Chestnuts roasted by Joel @ 02/23/2007 11:00 PM

terror and manimal: a huge congrats to the both of you!!
Erik: here in newfoundland, canada they still allow you to choose your own toy, which is pretty badass!
Joel: the shamrocks are out ALREADY?? damn dude, i must hit-up a McD’s, wont eat the food though!

Later Folks
El-Josh-O

Chestnuts roasted by JoshC @ 02/24/2007 12:02 AM

Looks like I’m joining the conversation late again, but I just gotta say 1.) good job, Matt(the Arch Deluxe placemat was especially hilarious), and 2.) good job Nickelodeon. Does Big Red have a myspace account? I want to be friends with her.

Chestnuts roasted by Casual Jeff @ 02/24/2007 12:33 AM

They let you choose your own toy here in the US of A too. You just have to tell them to let you do it. I can’t count the times my grandmother was like “let me see the box, he’s looking for one in particular.”

And then they’d let me rummage through the box of everything they had. It was sweet. It’s not hard to push people around, if you try :D

Chestnuts roasted by K- @ 02/24/2007 12:49 AM

I remember honey dipping sauce!

Chestnuts roasted by Justin @ 02/24/2007 12:55 AM

kidneyboy, chris, joel….Where?!?!?! I’m on LI so…I’d like to know if there are any around here.

Also, I finally went to Checkers today. It was allright, it didn’t give me that “I’m gonna die!” feeling McDs and White Castle usually give me. Checkers also currently has O’Hanlon’s Irish Creme Shakes now, and I’m pretty sure I’ll settle for this is I can’t find the Shamrock Shake. (I even have a coupon for 79 cents for the Checkers shake)

Chestnuts roasted by Invader Norbert @ 02/24/2007 12:58 AM

I never read the paper placemats. I was always to busy playing with the crappy toys that were in our happy meal to give a crap what they said. I remember “honey” sauce which i think was just real bee honey. More importantly all this McD’s nostalgia is making me think about McRibs.

Chestnuts roasted by Fowl @ 02/24/2007 2:38 AM

I’m going to have to check Matt’s dating on the chicken McNuggets. I personally have 1 degree of separation from the nuggets. In 1981, I started a rock band, and in early 1982, we found a keyboard player who’s dad owned a company named Imperial Foods. (This was in Northeast PA). And they made chicken McNuggets. Here is a secret about the recipe though. The McNuggets sold in the North were made of white and dark meat. But those sold in the south were all white meat. For some reason, market research showed that people in the South had more discriminating taste. So years later, when mcDonalds touted “McNuggets, now with all white meat” I thought “Ha! Maybe these commercials are only up north!”. I’m so friggin’ special…

Anyway, I seem to remember thatwhen my buddy told me that info in 1982, the McNuggets had been around for a while.

Whatever…

Chestnuts roasted by Alex @ 02/24/2007 6:14 AM

The Eleventh Comandment:
Thou shalt not doubt Matt.

Chestnuts roasted by johnny @ 02/24/2007 7:30 AM

I’m fairly certain there was a time when McNuggets were all white meat before they were dark meat mixed and then back to white meat. I say this because I remember quite well there was a time in the middle of my life that McNuggets, A.) Seemed darker inside than before and B.) Didn’t taste nearly as well.

Chestnuts roasted by dohopoki @ 02/24/2007 1:55 PM

Let’s come up with names for the babies!

SuperFly
Evil-Lyn
Semprini
Habanerolita
Julius Strangepork
Mxyzptlk
Trogdor
Ju-On
Big Hunk
Arcee
Emil Medici Holloman (what I wanted the Doctor on Voyager to be named)
Sunny Gummi
O’Grimacey
Romanavratdalunda
Boogie Down Productions
Xena
Stands With A Fist
Suzy Chapstick

Who else has suggestions?

Chestnuts roasted by kingklash @ 02/24/2007 4:24 PM

Elita One
Moonchild
Buttercup
Alan Rickman (just because I love him)
Spike
Teela
Albert Rosenfield or maybe Chester Desmond

I think I’m out of names for now. I find myself in a wonderful mood this lovely Saturday…..It might be because I watched Drop Dead Fred, The Neverending Story and The Princess Bride yesterday. Woot!

Chestnuts roasted by MissJess @ 02/24/2007 5:06 PM

Josie
Selphie
Rinoa
Kairi
Penelo
Shion
MOMO……okay, too far. :D

Chestnuts roasted by K- @ 02/24/2007 7:02 PM

Does anyone know where I can download the entire coming out of our shells tour?

Chestnuts roasted by jester @ 02/24/2007 7:06 PM

Jester: I once found it on Bearshare, this was 2005 though, but you could stve it a shot!

El-Josh-O

Chestnuts roasted by JoshC @ 02/24/2007 7:17 PM

Sorry, that should be “but you could still give it a shot!”
appologizes for the double-post!
El-Josh-O

Chestnuts roasted by JoshC @ 02/24/2007 7:19 PM

Lord Madonna David Uncle Jellyfish

Chestnuts roasted by jazzy @ 02/24/2007 9:01 PM

I suggest dohopoki, that’s just me.

Chestnuts roasted by dohopoki @ 02/24/2007 10:01 PM

Mcdonalds thase like shit for today.

Chestnuts roasted by Toonintvfor @ 02/25/2007 4:22 PM

Dear lord, I know for certain that I still have some of those Hot Wheels. I recognize at least 4 of them, they’re in a plastic bag stored away in a box in my parent’s attic. I would have been 11 in 1983, and I know I still have every toy that didn’t break or vanish, because I’m an unholy packrat. Unlike many of my plastic toys, Hot Wheels being made of “die-cast metal” as they were, tended to be much more durable. Its the same reason I still have so many Star Wars action figures; they were made of hard, hard, solid plastic unlike, say G.I. Joe figures, with their many screws that could rust and the rubber band in the middle that could snap. At least, with as rough as we played with them, that tended to happen.

Chestnuts roasted by The Kraken @ 02/25/2007 9:22 PM

Roc Donald’s brings back a -lot- of memories. I remember compulsively collecting the little house/car sets they put out for the movie. I was so anal about putting the stickers in ALLTHERIGHTSPOTS.

Chestnuts roasted by Jade @ 02/26/2007 1:53 AM

Those Batman Forever mugs look particularly high-quality. A couple of years back, I started buying old promo glasses from films like “Return of the Jedi” and “Star Trek III”, as well as my beloved “Camp Snoopy” glasses. However, time and many dishwashings have not been kind to these…I don’t buy them anymore since they inevitably disintegrate, regardless if you have a dishwasher.

Chestnuts roasted by Will @ 02/26/2007 3:06 PM

Ah, McDonald’s. Remember when McDonald’s was THE fast food place? I miss worshipping the place. I miss commercials for it that didn’t make me want to strangle Ronald because he’s being EXTREME or ACTIVE or some such crap. This article brought back a lot of happy Mickey D’s memories for me. Awesome job as always, Matt.

Like how I totally had (and probably still have, somewhere) a ton of those Hot Wheels toys. I too was a daddy’s girl and loved toy cars as much as my Barbies and My Little Ponies. Speaking of my daddy, I remember that he and I used to go out every Sunday morning for a period of time to McDonald’s for breakfast, just the two of us. This was pretty special because my dad’s always worked at least two jobs to support us and usually time with him meant time with my little brother and my mom, too. But those Sundays were just for us. I don’t remember exactly when this was but I know they still had the styrofoam containers because I remember eating hotcakes from them. We used to go to this really cool McDonald’s that had an actual carousel horse in the middle of the restaurant (I have no idea why). I hadn’t thought about those Sunday morning breakfasts in years…too bad my dad’s working nights now and sleeps on Sunday mornings, or I’d have to get him to go with me again sometime. Growing up sucks.

Was the Arch Deluxe dealio also the time when they changed my all-time favorite McD’s food, the Filet-O-Fish? Once I grew out of Happy Meals, I ordered those things all the time (they’re still my favorite indulgence from there). I remember being so pissed when they changed it to have lettuce (ew!), and some crappy bun that was always stale, and NO CHEESE, which is the best part! I think I boycotted the place for a while until they brought back the original Filet.

God, now I HAVE to stop at McDonald’s on the way home. I don’t think I’ve ever had a Shamrock Shake, so I must know if they exist around here. The boyfriend won’t be happy because we’re both trying to cut back on fast food (we’re too lazy to cook but we don’t have the money to eat out all the time), but I’m bringing home tons of work that I have to finish at home tonight, so I should treat myself. Right? Right?

Chestnuts roasted by Nicole @ 02/26/2007 5:34 PM

Hey, just in case anyone wants to complete their collection or something, I have both the Riddler and the Batman glass cups from the 1995 placemats. They do get used from time to time, but they are in perfect shape. Drop me an email if your interested, stljason1@hotmail.com

Chestnuts roasted by Jason @ 02/27/2007 12:04 AM

That reminds me… I’ve got the Batman and Robin glasses from that era, and I still use them occasionally. My friends love them, simply because they are so corny. I remember I got them before going to the Iona County Fair all those years ago… Time Warp?

So, is there going to be a Burger King place mat thingamajig? I do recall a pretty awesome Dale Earnhardt (RIP) place mat from ’99 or ’00 to promote his special Burger King model for a race at Richmond or Talladega. I only saw them when I was down south in Alabama and Florida on vacation, by the time I was back in Michigan, I never saw them again… I wish I had kept one…

Chestnuts roasted by Brad Y @ 02/27/2007 1:11 AM

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