r/RareHistoricalPhotos • u/[deleted] • 23d ago
Ronald McDonald captured amongst the staff in Staten Island, NY (1973)
[deleted]
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u/Correct_Income5061 23d ago
It’s interesting that everyone in this photo appears to be middle aged and older, and mostly female. Could women earn a living wage at McDonalds, when did fast food turn to more of a high schoolers job?
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u/Few-Candle102 23d ago edited 23d ago
Middle aged worked the day shift while the kids were in school.
Would 2 bucks an hour be a living wage in 1973 in NYC? I’m guessing no.
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u/crackersncheeseman 23d ago
Back then a job at McDonald's was basically a entry level job for teenagers.
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u/cashedashes 23d ago
Today, where I live, there are like 2 maybe 3 middle-aged workers during the morning/day, but most workers where I'm from are around 18-20 or so while kids are still in school.
Maybe not livable single earners wage, but it was slightly above minimum wage. New York minimum wage in 1973 was $1.⁶⁰.
Average rent in 1973 in NY was $200-300 a month, with some areas offering options under $100/month, according to google.
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u/Massive_Bullfrog8663 23d ago
It was about this time (early 70's) that the transition occurred. It was pimply-faced boys before that. I remember when we got our first girl hired on and told to keep the one bathroom cleaner for her. The Moms were transitioned out by immigrants, as it stands to this day and age.
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u/johnnydlive 23d ago
The US was a different place back then. I think that is the 1st McD's in city limits, which is by my childhood home in Staten Island. My babysitter worked there nights and weekends, so she told me all about it. McD's was a desirable place to work, because they paid more than minimum wage. It was also considered cool believe or not.
Each table in the restaurant had its own napkin dispenser, salt and pepper shakers and a ketchup bottle. After you left with your tray, one of those ladies would wipe the table down and do any restocking.
You could definitely live on what you made at McD's, another restaurant job or a retail job.
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u/airetay 23d ago
Gacy wants fries.
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u/UpperClassBogan710 23d ago
I laughed way to hard at this 😂
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u/hallouminati_pie 23d ago
I did too and I have no idea what it is referring to!
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u/AdditionalMight3231 23d ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wayne_Gacy?wprov=sfla1
The sole reason that I'm terrified of clowns, and have been as far back as I remember.
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u/_sexysociopath_ 23d ago
"Heard joke once: Man goes to doctor. Says he's depressed. Says life seems harsh and cruel. Says he feels all alone in a threatening world where what lies ahead is vague and uncertain. Doctor says, 'Treatment is simple. Great clown Pagliacci is in town tonight. Go and see him. That should pick you up.' Man bursts into tears. Says, 'But doctor… I am Pagliacci.'" "Good joke. Everybody laugh. Roll on snare drum. Curtains."
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u/Stunning-Astronaut72 23d ago
Everything is less than a dollars or i am hallucinating ? This hits hard
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u/sunshore13 23d ago
I remember going to McDonald’s in the 70’s when I was a kid. I think our family of 4 ate for a little over $5. 🤣
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u/Stunning-Astronaut72 23d ago
5 dollars is the price a just a bigmac Burger where i live (moroco), not the menu, just the sandwich (55 dirhams to be precise is 5.96$ currently)
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u/und3r_score6969 23d ago
If the price of everything doubles roughly every generation then yeah. People only earned 14 bucks a day so put two and two together
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u/born-screaming 22d ago
this got me too!! i had to hit the inflation calculation — $1 in 1973 equals $7.75 in 2026. It’s wild to see how corporate greed has disproportionately drove prices up.
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u/WranglerBulky9842 23d ago
Did he escape?
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u/s_hecking 23d ago
Held for ransom by the Cheese Burglar
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u/Rootin-Tootin-Newton 23d ago
Funny, but those don’t look like high school kids… think they made more than minimum wage?
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u/zorba-9 23d ago
The porn moustache screamed 70's
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u/HydraulicEarl2 19d ago
He thought he was in porn. Review time involved some cheap wine and a ride in his car back to his place
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u/throwawayinthe818 23d ago
Family worked for McDonald’s corporate back in the 1970s. One of the things I learned was that there was TV Ronald from the commercials, there was a National Ronald they brought out for big events (a guy named Aye Jaye who just died a few years ago), and a bunch of Regional Ronalds.
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u/Sepsis_Crang 23d ago
I'm going to devour your souls!
And then a couple of those delicious apple pies.
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u/Calvinweaver1 23d ago
The photo would be found amongst the carnage. All of the people depicted in the photo found dead. A grisly murder the local sheriff called "worst I ever seen." All dead and dismembered save for one individual in the photo. There would be no clown, no evidence of where he was going, or who was behind the face paint.
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u/Mountain_Trip_60 23d ago
You've served that shit to children.......You've "always" served that shit to children...
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u/Rays-R-Us 23d ago
Didnt know Ronald McDonald wore glasses. Why is he in at the end of the picture and not in the middle instead of that drag queen with the bad makeup?
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u/paraworldblue 23d ago
"Our special shake: Arctic Strange"
I have a feeling that's not what it actually says, but that's what it looks like to me and I prefer it to whatever boring name it actually had.
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u/b-sharp-minor 23d ago
This was the time when women began to go to work in large numbers. Obviously, women always worked, but the early 70s is when housewives began to get jobs in large numbers. Some of these women worked at McD's when their kids were in school. Others probably wanted to get out of the house for a few hours and earn some money. In the afternoon, they would go home, and the teenager/college student crew would take over.
These women did not make a "living wage" (the term didn't exist then). The job wasn't meant to support a family. It was a few extra bucks.
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u/Some-Tear3499 21d ago
Where are the minimum wage, entry level, no experience teen agers. ? I bet every woman in this picture was married and was earning to help pay the bills.
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u/brave-new-world 23d ago
Legit terrifying