Big Macs cost $1.60 when Ann Bower began working at McDonald’s in Broadmeadow.
For just $2.59, it would come with fries and a coke.
The year was 1982, less than 12 months before the fast-food giant introduced chicken nuggets to its menu, and at the same time its 40-cent colouring calendar became a must-have item among Newcastle youngsters.
Ann was a bubbly teenager from Mount Hutton when she pinned her first name badge on a Macca’s uniform.
It’s an outfit she’d wear in all its forms, almost every day for the next 42 years.
And, while she’d transfer from Broadmeadow to Charlestown and eventually King Street, the mother-of-two would continue to progress in her career.
Today she’s one of the city’s longest serving McDonald’s employees.
“I don’t think I ever thought about how long I’d be here,” she says.
“I just loved working with people and this job has always been challenging but rewarding.”
She’d been employed at a few Newcastle businesses before she got the job at Macca’s, but the flexible shifts meant Ann could continue pursuing her true passion at the time – riding horses.
As the years passed, she grew to appreciate the skillset and work ethos the role was teaching her, skills she’d pass on to thousands of employees over the years.
“I think I’m old fashioned,” Ann says.
“I love good customer service, real face-to-face service, and I love meeting regular people.
“I think it’s something that we don’t value enough.”
Ann says it’s the contact with people that has kept her in the job.
“There are times when you think I’m not going to go to work tomorrow, but you do, and it’s a whole different day.
“There’s different people, there’s different clients, there’s different customers, every day is different.”
She’s also become somewhat of a face of Macca’s in the region.
“People start to recognise you. They might come in and say, ‘you used to serve me at Charlestown’, and I think, gee, that was a while ago,” Ann said.
“I had a girl message me yesterday from the UK and said she saw something on Instagram in relation to my time here and so forth, and she remembered working with me years ago.
“That’s nice.”
It’s not just the people that have changed over the past four decades either.
Ann says her 17-year-old self would never have imagined customers would be ordering from a QR code or that Macca’s would introduce home delivery or that brown paper bags would replace stackable plastic trays.
“Back when I started you had a little notepad that had a list of all the burgers down the page, like Big Mac, Quarter Pounder, McChicken, and you’d keep a tally, total it, and then you put the total in the register,” says Ann.
“You did that for each order and then you’d flip the page and do the next order.”
The dining experience has changed, too.
“Even when I first transferred here (King Street) in 2008 there used to be crockery, cups, sauces, teapots and things like that in the cafe,” she said.
“There were glasses for the iced latte and things were served on a plate with the tray that you walked out to the customer.
“I think they might be looking at a return to table service. It is something that people mention a bit.”
Being accessible around the clock is a relatively new addition as well.
“We didn’t have breakfast when I started here at King Street. We opened at 10am and closed around 11pm.
“Now we’re open 24 hours.”
The greatest lesson she says she has learned is how to manage people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities.
“Be nice. Be direct. Be clear in explaining what you want. Don’t always assume that people know what you’re talking about,” Ann said.
“And, I always try and teach people some of the old ways, it’s just the way I was taught – clean as you go, if you drop something, you pick it up. If it’s dirty, you clean it.”
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