What was the name of McDonald’s original restaurant system, launched by the McDonald brothers in 1948?

The McDonald brothers launched the Speedee Service System at their redesigned restaurant in 1948.

Richard and Maurice McDonald reorganized their San Bernardino, California, drive-in around a sharply limited menu and standardized production. Instead of preparing many custom orders, workers assembled a small number of popular items quickly and consistently. The system drew inspiration from industrial assembly-line methods.

The name referred to speed, and the original mascot Speedee visually represented that promise. This operational identity came before the modern Golden Arches logo and before McDonald’s became a worldwide chain. It was a branding idea as well as a restaurant-management method because customers were promised fast, predictable service.

The Speedee Service System is sometimes described as the beginning of modern fast food, although other restaurants also contributed to the industry’s development. Its importance to McDonald’s history is that it supplied the service model later expanded by Ray Kroc through franchising.