Big Mac started a revolution 40 years ago

Judith Salkin • The Desert Sun • August 6, 2008

We all know the jingle: “Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun.”

The Big Mac is the only burger — make that double-decker burger — with its own theme song, and this week McDonald's is celebrating the 40th anniversary of its national debut.

Even after four decades, the Big Mac is still the flagship sandwich for the fast food giant, according to Dick Shalhoub, who owns 21 McDonald's locations in Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

“There are certain key items on the menu,” Shalhoub said, adding the Egg McMuffin and Chicken McNuggets. “But the Big Mac is definitely the signature sandwich.”

The Big Mac is served in McDonald's restaurants around the world, from Perth (Western Australia) to Palm Springs. It's even on the menu in Tel Aviv, where it's made with kosher meat.

The burger, which originally came wrapped in a cardboard collar to hold it together, was developed by Jim Delligatti at his McDonald's franchise in Uniontown, Pa. in 1967. It made its national debut in August 1968 and sold for a whopping 49 cents.

“Remember, a single cheeseburger (with pickles, ketchup and mustard) sold for 21 cents,” Shalhoub said. “With the Big Mac you got two patties, cheese, the lettuce and the club sandwich bun. All they really added was the shredded lettuce, onions and the special sauce.”

According to Shalhoub, it was the special sauce that took some time to develop. To this day its exact recipe remains a secret, although it is most likely a variant of Thousand Island dressing.

From its debut, the Big Mac set the burger world on its ear. “It was revolutionary,” Shalhoub said. “A Big Mac wasn't just a burger, it was the first deluxe burger.”

And the jingle?

“That was poetry.”

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