Were those McDonald's roof lights meant to be french fries? An ode to the mansard on this National French Fry Day

The 1978 McDonald's in North Platte, Nebraska, was a masterful mansard that survived until 2018.

The yellow lines extended onto the facade of this location in North Platte, Nebraska. (Rolando Pujol)

I always thought the light brackets on the roofs of vintage mansard McDonald's were meant to represent French fries! I've also seen them in white, so perhaps not, but the very sight of the lights always gave me a hankering for Ronald's fries. 

Today is National French Fry Day, and I couldn't let it pass without a reference to my favorite fries, the ones at McDonald's. They are a rare treat for me these days, and I resisted the urge to stop at my participating McDonald's for some free ones today!

Why didn’t I go inside? How cool was this location! (Rolando Pujol)

This gorgeous location was in North Platte, Nebraska. It opened in 1978 and survived until 2018, an astonishing run, given that its interior was intact as well.

In June 2014, when I visited North Platte on a tour of the Lincoln Highway, I clearly did not think the interior was rare enough to photograph, though I did sneak a peek of the woodsy decor through the window.

According to the North Platte Telegraph, the new owners of the store, Adam and Doug Otte, were required to update it as a condition of purchasing the franchise.

“It’s pretty rare that a McDonald’s that old hasn’t been rebuilt already,” Adam Otte said. “Truth be told, part of our arrangement (with McDonald’s Corp.) to acquire the store required us to redo it.”

He added that many processes and equipment become inefficient as years go by. The challenge of building a new restaurant also brings the benefit of the latest and greatest updates.

The location closed in January 2018 and was later demolished, a new McBox opening next door. As I’ve stated many times, the idea of McDonald’s updating does not trouble me. The nostalgist in me only wishes the new stores carried an echo of the old. They don’t. And defiantly don’t.

I still believe, perhaps foolishly, that McDonald’s is inching toward introducing a retro mansard concept store, complete with a McDonaldland, or Playland, or PlayPlace, depending on the generation,

It would make sense. McDonald’s began to introduce “Classic” 1950s throwback locations in the 1990s, around which time the original Stanley Clark Meston-designed stores were all but vanquished.

There’s another “billions and billions” sign, which I like to call the Carl Sagan. (Rolando Pujol)

Nostalgia for the 1950s and 1960s was soaring in the 1990s, just as the “classic” stores were introduced. Nostalgia for the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s is strong now, and the McDonald’s of those years were the mansards.

Now that they, too, are almost gone, could the design return at “boutique” locations or even a nostalgic popup that gets a ton of publicity, including from the Retrologist?

MORE MCDONALD’S COVERAGE IN THE RETROLOGIST!

McDonald’s is having lots of fun with its forays into nostalgia, mainly limited to menu items, Happy Meal toys and marketing at this point. Could brick and mortar be far behind?

What do you think?

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