Writer: Eleana Teran
2 min read December 2022—As McDonald’s kicks off yet another holiday special for its famed Big Mac, few people are aware of the hamburger’s roots dating back to the Steel City.
To celebrate the holidays, the golden arches chain will be running a series of deals over the next 20 days, offering everything from a buy-one-get-one-free Big Mac deal to a chance to win one of its secret McGold Cards, which gives the holder (almost) free meals for life.
As people across the country prepare to enjoy a free burger, few might know that McDonald’s most iconic sandwich was invented in Pittsburgh to feed hungry steelworkers. Fifty-four years ago, the Big Mac became available to customers nationwide, a year after its debut in Fayette County.
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According to Reader’s Digest, Uniontown restaurant owner Jim Delligatti was the mastermind behind the Big Mac. In the 1960s, most of Delligatti’s patrons were returning from a long day of work at the steel mills. He quickly realized that the simple single-patty cheeseburger wouldn’t suffice after arduous labor, and so he started experimenting, which resulted in the iconic sandwich with two patties, pickles and onions enjoyed from Uniontown to as far as mainland China’s Urumqi.
Since its creation, the Big Mac has become one of the hottest food items in the world. Not only is it McDonald’s second-best selling item of all time (after, of course, french fries) but it is the most popular burger and has the biggest sales worldwide.
As of 2022, the company sells an average of 2.4 million Big Macs every day across the world with Americans consuming over 1.5 million daily — equaling over 12 Big Macs sold for every Fayette County resident each day.
The sandwich has come a long way from its origins in Southwest Pennsylvania. Today, you can buy this famed food product in more than 70 countries. However, the price you pay will vary based on your location — in fact, today, the price of a Big Mac is also used as an economic indicator.
The Big Mac Index, invented by the Economist in 1986, helps illustrate if currencies are at their “correct” level with a helping hand of burger patties and buns. Based on the purchasing-power-parity (PPP) theory, exchange rates should move toward the rate which will equalize the prices of identical baskets of goods in any two countries (in this case, burgers). The index has become a global standard to understand how much one currency is under- or overvalued relative to another. For those who are hyper-focused on inflation heading into 2023, it may help indicate how much toppings add to your total bill.
So, the next time you are enjoying arguably the world’s favorite burger, visiting the Big Mac museum in Fayette County or looking at key economic burger metrics, just remember it is all thanks to a Pittsburgh business owner.
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