The Happy Meal Killer of 1892

In 1892, a drifter named Ronald McDonald toured county fairs across the Midwest—wearing a red coat, yellow waistcoat, and a painted smile so wide it cut into his cheeks. He called his tent the “Happy Meal.” Inside, children found dim light, the smell of sweet bread and varnish, and small red boxes with strange gifts. By the end of summer, twelve children had vanished. Decades later, an advertising agency purchased an old fairground poster… and used it to design one of the most recognizable mascots in history. This is the disturbing true-crime origin story you’ve never heard.