CREATOR OF THE BIG MAC DIES

The Pittsburgh-area McDonald’s franchisee who created the Big Mac nearly 50 years ago has died. Jim Delligatti was 98. Delligatti’s franchise was based in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, when he invented the chain’s signature burger with two all-beef patties, “special sauce,” lettuce, cheese, pickles and onions on a sesame seed bun. Delligatti claimed that McDonald’s resisted the idea at first because its simple lineup of hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries and shakes was selling well. But Delligatti wanted to offer a bigger burger and it went over so well it spread to the rest of Delligatti’s 47 stores, then went national in 1968.
* The last American hero.
* Jim will be buried in a large red cardboard carton.
* From “I’m lovin’ it” to “I’m leavin’ it.”
* He invented the Big Mac 50 years ago, or roughly 38 hundred trillion calories ago.
* Sure, you can make fun of Big Macs but don’t pretend you never had one.
* One or a few hundred.
* I’d honor his memory by going and getting one but Burger King has a special right now: two Whoppers for $10 dollars.
* I can just picture the funeral procession by the drive-through window.
* I don’t know if he changed America but he definitely made us fatter.