McDonald's at 75: How much would a Big Mac cost you in 1974?
The iconic American fast food chain celebrates its 75th birthday today
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How much should a Big Mac cost? Back in 1974 it was just 45p.
McDonald's turns 75 today, but it opened its first branch in the UK on 13 November 1974 in Woolwich, south east London, and British dinners entering under the golden arches found some of the cheapest food many of them had ever encountered.
Hamburgers cost just 15p and cheeseburgers cost 21p.
The Mirror retrieved the first ever menu for the Woolwich branch and it shows many of the items have changed very little.
The Big Mac and the Quarter Pounder - billed on the menu as being "for a larger appetite" - were both available back in 1974, while the precursor to today's 'fillet-o-fish' appears to have been the 'McMariner'.
A combined hamburger, fries and a shake was labeled 'The United Tastes of America' and cost 45p, and The McDonald's apple pie - "as American as the fourth of July" - was also available.
The interior design of the Woolwich branch, which was in Powis Street, was simple, with wooden seating and an ashtray on every table, a feature that would go down much less well today.
The Metro reported that the company had wanted a West End location but "took what they could get".
In the decade following the establishment of its first London branch, McDonald's expanded across the UK and its adverts were screened in cinemas and on television.
Inflation pushed its prices up, however, so that by the mid 1980s a hamburger cost 37p to take away and 43p to eat in. A cheeseburger cost 42p to take away and 48p to eat in.
McDonald's celebrated its 75th birthday on Friday. The iconic chain opened its first branch in San Bernardino, California on 15 May 1940.
And in answer to the question, the 1970s Big Mac at 45p would be equivalent to £3.90 in today's money.
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