A young employee held a tray of McDonald's food on May 9, 1986. Trevor James Robert Dallen/Fairfax Media/Getty Images By the 1980s, McDonald's had already become a well-established fast-food chain with a  well-known menu  and distinctive branding. Ray Kroc opened the first McDonald's franchise location in Des Plaines, Illinois, on April 15, 1955. That year, he also founded McDonald's System, Inc., which would become the McDonald's Corporation we know today.  By 1958, McDonald's had sold 100 million burgers , and its restaurants had adopted a signature design style prominently featuring the chain's iconic "golden arches." The 1980s were also a major period of growth for McDonald's. By 1989, systemwide sales had reached $17.3 billion, The Deseret News reported, citing McDonald's. Sales outside the US grew from $900 million in 1979 to $5.3 billion in 1989.…