Good Morning.  Sunday mornings are often associated with a more leisurely breakfast and perhaps a special selection for the meal.  At home it’s when our favorite breakfast combo. is fixed up.  And in the firehouse it is often a group project culminating with a large brunch that makes the rest of the day more pleasurable.

But there was a dark spot in the sky over the breakfast world this week when it was announced that Herb Peterson died peacefully in his home at the age of 89.  Mr. Peterson’s name might not trigger any particular memories for you, but he had an impact on everybody when, back in 1972, he created the infamous Egg McMuffin.

Peterson was a vice-president with the D’Arcy Advertising Agency in Chicago when they were handling McDonald’s national ad campaigns.  He was the writer who penned their first national slogan, “Where Quality Starts Fresh Every Day.”  Impressed with their potential for growth and success, he left the advertising business and established his own chain of six franchise McDonald’s in Santa Barbara, California, with his son.

Wishing to expand the business hours of his restaurants, and also being a fan of Eggs Benedict, he developed a teflon ring that would hold an egg while it cooked on a hamburger grill and then combined the broken-yolk egg with a slice of cheese and a piece of Canadian bacon on an English muffin.  A cultural icon was born.

When McDonald’s president Ray Kroc visited Peterson in 1972, Herb showed him his creation and Kroc fell in love with it right away.  It was the ideal finger-food for a breakfast offering and perfect for the restaurants’ menus. 

The Egg McMuffin became the anchor of McDonald’s new breakfast menu. And when it was rolled out nationally in 1976, restaurants were able to ring up sales for several additional hours every day. Today, breakfast accounts for about a third of McDonald’s total sales.

Herb Peterson with a tray of
his favorite breakfast food.

It’s hard to imagine, but everyone under the age of 35 has never lived a day without the availability of the Egg McMuffin.  Herb Peterson was one of those accidental folk hero’s whose simple desire to make a better product ended up permanently affecting an entire culture.  Good job, Herb!  May he rest in peace.

Now let’s get the equipment checked out.  I’ll start the coffee and then we can send the ambulance out for a bag of McMuffins.

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