AMERICAN PATRIOT
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FULLSCREEN APRIL 13, 2011
THE GENIUS OF THE
GOLDEN ARCHES PATRIOT’S DAY FIRST FEMALE SENATOR
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AMERICAN PATRIOT GENIUS OF THE
GOLDEN ARCHES
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6 THE FIRST FEMALE SENATOR
8 M&M’S
THE SOLDIERS CANDY
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK
THIS WEEK IN AMERICAN HISTORY
GENIUS OF THE
GOLDEN ARCHES 4 AMERICAN PATRIOT
As every reader of American Patriot knows, McDonald's is the world's largest fast food chain, selling primarily hamburgers, chicken, french fries and carbonated drinks, and more recently salads, fruit and carrot sticks. Subway, the sandwich shops, recently rose to the top in storefronts, but sales and revenues are still hugely in McDonald’s favor. The genius of the Golden Arches, founded 56 years ago this month, can be seen as a triumph of American entrepreneurialism and ingenuity throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Technically, the business that was to become McDonald’s was founded in 1940 with a restaurant opened by the brother team of Dick and Mac McDonald in San Bernadino CA. It was their introduction of the “Speedee Service System” in 1948 that established the principles of the fast-food restaurant. Nevertheless, the company today dates its official “founding” to the opening of CEO Ray Kroc's first franchised restaurant; he opened his first McDonald's in Des Plaines IL in April 1955. Kroc, a milk shake blender salesman who had seen the McDonald brothers’ system in action, became a believer and missionary early on. Kroc suggested that they franchise the restaurants throughout the country. When they hesitated, Kroc volunteered to do it for them. He returned to his home outside of Chicago with rights to set up McDonald's restaurants throughout the country, except in a handful of territories in California and Arizona. Once the Des Plaines restaurant was operational, Kroc went to work building the chain. McDonald’s grew slowly for its first three years. By 1958, there were 34 restaurants. In 1959, however, Kroc opened 68 new restaurants, bringing the total to 102 locations.
Then the huge growth came. In 1960, the McDonald's advertising campaign “Look for the Golden Arches” gave the franchise sales a big boost. Kroc believed in advertising and that belief continues to this day. In 1962, McDonald's introduced its now world-famous Golden Arches logo, and in 1963 the red-haird Ronald McDonald clown. Meanwhile, in 1961 Kroc bought out the McDonald brothers for $2.7 million, aiming to make McDonald's the number one fast-food chain in the country. In 1965, McDonald's Corporation went public and, eventually, the corporation became one of the 30 companies that make up the Dow Jones Index. During the 1960s, the Filet-O-Fish and the Big Mac were introduced, and the marketing programs became increasingly sophisticated. The 1,000th restaurant was opened in 1968, and the rest is history. McDonald’s early and phenomenal success was due, in large part to American entrepreneurship and spirit: development of an efficient system, skillful marketing, and flexible response to customer demand. The “burger wars” of the 1970s and the health movement of the 1980s and 1990s were to come, but Kroc had built a strong foundation.
THE MCDONALD’S #1 STORE MUSEUM RECREATES THE ORIGINAL RED AND WHITE TILED RESTAURANT AMERICAN PATRIOT 5
THE FIRST FEMALE SENATOR
6 AMERICAN PATRIOT
Hattie Wyatt Caraway was the first woman to be elected to the Senate. She served as an Arkansas Democrat from 1931 to 1945. Chosen to finish her husband’s senate term after he died in November 1931, Senator Caraway was then elected to her own term in January 1932 by her Arkansas constituency. Caraway was born in Bakerville TN in 1878. She attended local public schools and then went on to Dickson Normal College. There she met her future husband; Thaddeus was just a few years ahead of Hattie in school. After Thaddeus had completed his law degree and Hattie had earned a B.A., the couple married and moved to Jonesboro AR. Thaddeus was elected to Congress in 1912. Hattie remained a dutiful housewife, raising three sons and managing the house. She rarely dabbled in politics until her husband died suddenly after a routine surgical procedure. The Arkansas Democratic Committee could not come to a compromise on a candidate for the imminent election, so they nominated Hattie. Everyone expected her to step aside just two months later to allow for a new Democratic senator at the point of the official election; she was simply to be a figurehead. But Hattie did not see her position in this way; she ran for reelection promising to help the poor local farmers suffering more and more each day due to the deepening Depression. She embraced
junior Senator Huey P. Long’s redistribution of wealth and tax reform. Campaigning feverishly, she visited 31 counties and gave 39 speeches. Senator Long even came to Arkansas in the last week to accompany her around the state. She won the Democratic primary and then the November election. Carraway devotedly supported President Franklin Roosevelt’s reforms and projects. She supported the Equal Rights Amendment in 1943. She banned together with several other southern senators to propose anti-lynching and anti-poll tax legislation. She had a strong belief in equality and fairness for all, citing her own achievement as an example. Hattie spoke infrequently on the Senate floor, but when she did speak, her words were well-chosen and eloquently delivered. After two terms in Senate, Carraway went on to work in other civil service jobs in Washington. Carraway died in 1950 after a stroke, and is buried next to Thaddeus in Jonesboro.
AMERICAN PATRIOT 7
The most dangerous animals in the forest don’t live there.
ONLY YOU CAN PR E VE N T W I L D FIRE S. w w w. s m o k e y b e a r. c o m
M&M’S THE SOLDIERS’ CANDY 8 AMERICAN PATRIOT
What is America’s favorite candy? Chocolate, of course! And high on the list of chocolates are M&M’s — the “melts in your mouth not in your hand” treat — with an estimated two hundred million sold each day in the United States alone. Surprisingly, this ingenious candy has a military past. The history of the M&M goes back to the
The peanut M&M was not introduced
Spanish Civil War of the 1930s. Inventor
until 1945, and only came in the brown
Forest Mars got the idea from Spanish
color. This was the same year that the
soldiers munching on chocolate pellets.
company created the popular M&M char-
When World War II broke out, Mars and his
acters that still feature prominently in
partner, Bruce Murrie, created M&M’s
the commercials.
for American soldiers so that the soldiers abroad could enjoy chocolate overseas.
M&M’s continued to serve the nation as
The sugar encasing prevented chocolate
well. Through scientific study, M&M’s
melt thus allowing for M&M’s to be
were found to be suitable food for space
transported easily. The colors at that time
crews. In 1984, the M&M’s went into
included red, yellow, brown, green, and
space and have been part of space mis-
violet. Hershey produced the actual prod-
sions ever since. This was also the year
uct because it had control over candy
M&M’s were named the official food of the
rationing during the war. Hundreds of thou-
1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Periodically
sands of cardboard tubes of M&M’s were
America votes to change the color of the
shipped over to Europe and the Pacific.
M&M from yellow to blue to green, etc. Various fillings are also occasionally
The colorful candy caught on quickly at home, too. In 1948, the packaging changed from cardboard tubing to the brown
added to the mix. CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE HISTORY OF M&MS
bag. Then in 1950, the M was printed on the candy, creating the iconic branding.
AMERICAN PATRIOT 9
ONE FISH, TWO FISH . . . 20,000 FISH
THE NEW ENGLAND AQUARIUM
10 AMERICAN PATRIOT
Considered the first modern public aquarium in the United States, the New England Aquarium is one of the most popular attractions in all of Boston. Located on the city’s waterfront, the aquarium was designed to help visitors experience ocean life in the most natural environment possible. The open atrium of the main building contains the principal exhibit: the famed Ocean Tank. Visitors can follow the four-story Ocean Tank all the way to the top along a ramp wrapping around the tank. It is 23 feet deep and holds 20,000 gallons of water, so large that it had to be built first with the rest of the aquarium built around it. With the water temperatures running as high as 74°F, the Ocean Tank represents an exact replica of a Caribbean coral reef containing hundreds of fish and animals. Over 1.3 million people visit the aquarium’s Visitors can travel the world in just a few steps.
thousands of inhabitants annually. The insti-
Below the Ocean Tank, for example, the African
tution puts emphasis on educational programs
Rockhopper penguins reside. These endan-
for anyone who is interested. Extensive pro-
gered species live on islands around the sub-
grams have been implemented to preserve and
Antarctic. The exhibit is interactive, so visitors
research marine life. The aquarium prides it-
can look through underwater periscopes, listen
self in rearing queen triggerfish from eggs
to penguin sounds, and even play with the
harvested in the Giant Ocean Tank, which is
penguins at the penguin light station. After
an important step toward creating a sustain-
the penguin experience, it may be time to head
able fish trade.
north to the Pacific Northwest region where visitors can find the Giant Pacific Octopus.
CLICK HERE TO PLAN A VISIT TO THE NEW ENGLAND AQUARIUM
Since this particular Octopus is a master of camouflage, the aquarium just might be the best sighting people can experience.
AMERICAN PATRIOT 11
DENALI THE HIGH ONE
Alaska is the largest and wildest state in the United States. It is also the least populated, with a density at 1 person per square mile. That leaves lots of room for nature to display itself in all its glory. Perhaps most spectacular is Denali National Park, considered one of the most stunning in the world and capped by Mt. McKinley, the highest peak in North America. Denali was founded in 1917 by Charles Sheldon. The park was rated in the top five list for American trekking by National Geographic, and is on every top ten most beautiful national parks listing. The gem of the park is Mount McKinley; it stands a breathtaking 20,320 feet high. The park lands once belonged to the Athapaskan people. Archeologists date remnants found at ancient campgrounds to be over 12,000 years old. Denali or “High One” is the name the Athabascan people gave the peak. Between the time the nomadic tribe left Denali and the early 1900’s gold rush, the land was left mostly wild. The gold rush drew prospectors to the creek beds, but the rush only lasted a few years, and very few prospectors remained in the area. While panning for gold, William Dickey wrote to the New York Sun that he and fellow prospectors had named the highest mountain in Alaska after William McKinley, a nominee for presidency at the time, and future twenty-fifth president of the United States. Hence, the centerpiece of the region
became known as Mount McKinley. Locals never loved the name; today most people refer to the park as “Denali” and split as to whether to call the mountain “McKinley” or “Denali.” Having fallen in love with the Alaskan land, Charles Sheldon, a conservationist, became a primary advocate for the preservation of the land upon which Mount McKinley stood. In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson signed the Mount McKinley Park bill. Originally established as a game refuge, Denali was redesignated as a preserve in 1980 and the park was expanded to 4 million acres. There are over 650 species of flowering plants and over 220 species of animals found in the park as well as millions of breathtaking views. Despite its beauty, the park still only hosts about 400,000 visitors a year making it a magical and uncrowded place to visit during the summer months. CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO ON CLIMBING THE MOUNTAIN CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE OFFICIAL VISITORS WEBSITE AMERICAN PATRIOT 13
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Earth Day worked because of the spontaneous response at the grassroots level. We had neither the time nor resources to organize 20 million demonstrators and the thousands of schools and local communities that participated. That was the remarkable thing about Earth Day. It organized itself.
— SENATOR GAYLORD NELSON CREDITED AS THE FOUNDER OF EARTH DAY, ON HOW IT ALL BEGAN. THIS YEAR, EARTH DAY IS APRIL 22.
14 AMERICAN PATRIOT
THIS WEEK IN
AMERICAN HISTORY
1775 /1914. Patriot’s Day is a state holiday in Massachusetts and Maine that commemorates the Revolutionary War battles of Lexington and Concord, fought near Boston. Patriot’s Day is held annually the third Monday of April. (In 2011 it is April 19, in 2012 it is April 16.) The holiday is celebrated with school and business closings, reenactments of the battles, lectures, concerts and road races. The famed Boston Marathon is run on that day and the Boston Red Sox schedule games so fans can watch the runners as they leave the ballpark. AMERICAN PATRIOT 15
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