What was McDonald’s corporate name from 1955 until it became McDonald’s Corporation in 1960?

McDonald’s corporate name from 1955 until 1960 was McDonald’s System, Inc.

Ray Kroc incorporated McDonald’s System, Inc. in 1955 as he built a franchising organization around the restaurant system developed by Richard and Maurice McDonald. The name reflected the company’s emphasis on standardized methods, equipment, training, and operations.

In 1960, the business adopted the name McDonald’s Corporation. That change marked a shift toward the shorter corporate identity that became globally familiar through restaurant signs, packaging, advertising, and the Golden Arches.

The corporate name is easy to confuse with McDonald’s restaurant names and with the McDonald brothers’ original business. McDonald’s System, Inc. refers specifically to the corporation formed during Kroc’s early expansion period.