10 Historical Facts About the Mcdonald's Happy Meal

1. The very first Happy Meal was served in Kansas City in June of 1979. It was the original Circus Wagon Happy Meal, a collectible item to this day.
2. The virst Happy Meal to be tied in with a movie came in December of 1979. It was for the first Star Trek movie, and contained a little comic strip of parts of the movie on the boxes.
3. The original Happy Meal included a small bag of McDonald's cookies.
4. By sheer numbers, the most popular toy given away with Happy Meals has been the Ty Beanie Babies.
5. The Happy Meal goes by different names in different countries. For example, in Germany it was called Juniortute, which translates roughly as Bag for Juniors, until the late 1990s.
6. Dick Brams, an advertising manager, was the creator of what would eventuall be called the Happy Meal in 1977. His original name for the meal was the McDonaldland Fun-to-Go.
7. The original happy meal from 1979 only costs $1 and it included a burger, cookies, a small drink, a toy and french fries.
8. In 2004, the 25th anniversary of the Happy Meal, McDonald's began offering healthier choices for the famous kids' meal. Apple slices, juice and low-fat milk are just a few of the newer options.
9. The toys available in the very first Happy Meal were an identification bracelet, a McWrist wallet, a puzzle book, a stencil and pencil erasers shaped like McDonaldland characters.
10. In 1992, Happy Meal toys for the Batman Returns movie were withdrawn from McDonald's restaurants apparently because a number of parents had complained the movie was too adult for children.

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