Which character was McDonald's first mascot in 1948?

McDonald's first mascot in 1948 was Speedee.

Speedee was drawn as a small chef whose head resembled a hamburger. The character's name was a direct visual shorthand for the McDonald brothers' Speedee Service System, which made quick, consistent food preparation the center of their restaurant operation.

The system emerged at the McDonald brothers' San Bernardino drive-in after they redesigned the business around a much smaller menu and assembly-line methods. That operational change became a major foundation of modern fast food, and Speedee helped communicate it to customers.

Ronald McDonald became the company's most famous mascot later, while characters such as the Hamburglar and Grimace were introduced during the brand's family-marketing era. Because Ronald is so strongly associated with the company, he is often incorrectly identified as the original mascot. Speedee, however, belongs to McDonald's earliest post-1948 identity.