Speedee was the mascot shown on McDonald's 1948 sign.
Speedee represented the original Speedee Service System developed by Richard and Maurice McDonald. The character was a small chef figure, and the name connected the restaurant's identity to fast service and an efficient production method.
Speedee is often confused with Ronald McDonald, who became the company's best-known human mascot in the 1960s, and with the McDonaldland characters that appeared later. Speedee belongs to the restaurant's earliest branding period, before those later character campaigns.
The Speedee identity also helps explain why early McDonald's branding focused heavily on speed. The brothers' system organized kitchen work into repeatable steps, allowing a limited menu to be prepared quickly. As McDonald's corporate image changed, the Golden Arches gradually became more dominant than Speedee.