My 1974 Playskool Familiar Places McDonald's Playset - Upgraded with Lil' McD's Happy Meal toys!

 

            My brother and me playing with the Playskool McDonald's Playset in 1976~ish.

Revisiting my McDonald's toys celebrating the latest Lil' McDonald's Happy Meal Toys!!

As a proud GenX'er who has lived through some totally radical awesome times, and some very sad times, I frequently harken back to the days when I was young, carefree, and could get lost in my imagination and world of plastic miniature toys.  One of my favorites was the McDonald's Land toy made by Playskool pictured above.  I remember the Christmas it was given to me--along with the McDonald Land playset and train that came with a Ronald McDonald doll!  I still have pieces of it somewhere I believe.  And of course, the collector (and reclaimer) in me is compelled to hunt one down again to cherish and to take (better) care of it.

Never mind our seemingly uninterested and dazed parents (and friend of my mom's) above--high inflation and unemployment wrecked many household budgets and spirits.  My father, an Iron Worker by trade, worked his body to the bone and was constantly on the move looking for the next construction project.  But while they may not show much enthusiasm in this photo, please know that they loved us immensely, and sacrificed regularly so we could have some great memories, including these toys, when it often seemed we did not have much at all.  

Fast Forward....ahem....to well past middle age, and I still have my McDonald's playset, albeit it was severely LOVED.  So now the remnants sit in the garage and I had to replace it with a set I procured online.  Again, I was reliving my days playing with McDonald's.  Immediately, my fingers went to the familiar yellow cash register and started banging it as it chimed, "Ring, ring, ring!"  The trays easily slid from the counter out of the dispenser, and the character gripped the trays with their chins.  

So of course when I started seeing the new Lil' McDonald's Happy Meal toys that were released this summer, I immediately though, "What a GREAT way to upgrade my McDonald's playset!!"  I immediately began procuring the toys (although late to the game).  As of now, I have only been able to acquire about 10 unique playsets out of a total of 21 available.  But I'm happy to show you the layout of what I have so far.  I hope you enjoy the journey and the upgrades to my McDonald's franchise!!

In this image, we can see the McDonald's fry cook busy at the french fryer (Lil McDonald's Set #20).  And would you believe that the nook on the french fryer is perfectly shaped for the ledge inside the cooking space!  My employees are madly dashing about filling drinks, trays, and serving up french fries!  

In the background, you can see a tray with a Happy Meal box and some apple slices (Lil' McDonald's Set#18).  

The image also clearly shows the original toy accessory layout with the pretend burgers (oh...back in the 70s and 80s they would stack those burgers under the warming lamps---remember that?  That's why it was so fast).  The shake machine also has three pretend knobs jutting outwards.  

Oh come on you know this is adorable!!  In the background you can see inside the restaurant the white ordering kiosk on the left - partially obstructed view (Set # 17), the red toy display in the back-right (Set #10), in the foreground we have the red tray with Happy Meal box and Milk (Set #15), and the McDonald's PlayPlace (Set #19).  To the far right just in the background is the drive through ordering window (Set# 6).  

Some of the Lil McDonald's sets aren't all in the same scale (which of course means my PlayPlace looks quite small, but I still like the looks of it next to my SquareHead Playskool Blueshirt. 

Above, we have the yellow tray with hamburger (Set# 11), the Lil' McDonald's booth (again not to scale to the other items, but it is really cute) (Set #13).

And rounding it out a few more closeups of the drive-thru order kiosk and shots of the interior, as well as the original box below.  

I'm not sure I will be able to collect all the mini toys.  As my local store had already run out of most of the items.  High on my want list are the soda dispenser, burger grill, and cash register.  But who knows if I can get them.  For now, I'm content with what I have.  Let me know what you think and I hope it was fun!