What was the name of McDonald's early service system that inspired its first mascot?

The Speedee Service System was McDonald's early operating model and inspired its first mascot, Speedee.

Richard and Maurice McDonald introduced the system in 1948 when they redesigned their San Bernardino restaurant. They reduced the menu, reorganized the kitchen for assembly-line efficiency, and emphasized quick counter service. The approach differed from the original drive-in model, which had offered a broader menu and relied heavily on carhops.

The name highlighted speed as a central promise of the new restaurant format. Speedee, a chef-like character with a hamburger-shaped head, visually represented that promise and appeared in early McDonald's branding before Ronald McDonald became the leading mascot.

The Speedee Service System is sometimes confused with the later franchise or corporate system developed under Ray Kroc. Kroc expanded and standardized the brothers' basic ideas, but the Speedee name belongs to the brothers' 1948 service model and its early branding.