What name did McDonald’s give its original 1948 fast-service restaurant system?

McDonald’s called its original 1948 fast-service restaurant system the Speedee Service System.

Maurice and Richard McDonald redesigned their San Bernardino, California, restaurant around a limited menu, standardized preparation, and rapid counter service. The system replaced much of the traditional carhop model and helped establish the operating principles later associated with fast food.

Speedee was also represented by a small chef character named Speedee. The character appeared in early McDonald’s signs and advertising before Ronald McDonald became the chain’s best-known mascot. The name therefore refers both to an operating system and to an early brand figure, although the question asks about the system itself.

The brothers’ methods attracted Ray Kroc, who began franchising McDonald’s in 1955. Kroc expanded the concept nationally, while later corporate branding gradually moved away from Speedee toward the Golden Arches and other imagery.