anybody seen this mcdonalds bracelet before?

[cleio]

All I could find was one reference to it being from the 70s. Its cute with all the old characters, and being brass I doubt its something they wouldve made recently. Everything nowadays is cheap plastic...Ronald is there but he came out blurry so I have to retake him. Thanks!

[old.crows.nest]

I have not seen the Bracelet before but I looked up McDonald's Character Registration and found Grimace was possibly registered in the mid 80's.

https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/110197522115294055/?%24ios_deeplink_path=pinterest%3A%2F%2Fpin%2F110197...

[cleio]

cool! Also says first use in 1971

[old.crows.nest]

Yup 🙂

I noticed the little ®'s under the Characters.

[cleio]

yup i see them now

[cleio]

just thought Id give an update on what Ive found.  USPTO has grimace registered as a trademark in 1978

http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4802:umti49.2.11

it was registered as a service mark in 1985, whatever that means 

[dadsfloridatreasure]

Hi there.  I've never seen anything like that, either.  Have you checked to see if there's an eBay board for McDonald's advertising and promos that you might ask more about the history behind it?  I think it's super cool!

The McDonaldland characters were originally created around 1971.  A search here on eBay of related items you can see each character was trademarked during that period.  I agree that must date to the 1970s.  Especially given that brushed brass finish, I've had a number of similar metal pieces like architectural hardware and kitchenware that dated during the 1970s.  Get a magnet and see if it's steel with brass plating.

Also, the McDonaldland characters in the 1970s were heavily marketed outside in retail store products such as toys, decor like clocks, kitchenware, and paper products like greeting cards and stickers.  It wouldn't surprise me that bracelet could have been purchased in a mail order catalog, such as Sears, Montgomery Ward, and the like.

[clearsphere]

Not jewelry related, but sold a new in package vintage McD bedsheet to a buyer in Japan for good bucks back in the day. People would use the material to make quilts.

[thirry]

Seems to me I remember Grimace from way earlier than 1978.

[cleio]

yeah theres a lot of great websites for the characters.  Were they really serious there was a Hammurderer??

All say 1971 for when they got started, and I found one similar bracelet on etsy that listed it as 70s.  But that R in a circle does throw me for a loop. I cant find grimace at last having been actually registered as a trademark  before the late 70s. So Im listing the bracelet at 70s to 80s to be safe.  Hopefully a McDonalds collector will see it and know

Thats all we can ever hope for right? That it will at least get seen lol

[killrknee]

The ® marking can only be used once a mark has been Registered (which occurs after the filing goes without opposition).   It's illegal to use the circle R otherwise.   So, since the Fry Guy was Registered May 1985 and Grimace, Mayor McCheese and Ronald were Registered in 1984,  May 1985 is the earliest production could have started based on those characters (I couldn't find Registrations for the others).   

[cleio]

those were for service marks. Trademark registration was a bit earlier

[killrknee]

Service marks are for "Services" (SM), i.e. restaurants, dry cleaners.  Trade Marks are for "Goods" (TM), i.e. jewelry, clothing, shoes.   The SM and TM designations remain until the marks are Registered and then both become ® .    Each distinct image has its own application but multiple "Goods & Services" can appear in one application.   There are several Ronald McDonald images protected spanning decades.  Here are four applications to help explain the SM/TM issue. 

The first is the image found on your bracelet and is the application for jewelry (as well as bedroom furnishings and children's apparel).  It became a Registered Trade Mark in 1985.   The second application is a different image and covers only "towels".  It was Registered in 1975.  Even if that application was amended at some time to add jewelry to the "Goods", if you have two circle R items on something, the product can't have been produced until the most recent Mark/image was Registered.   For both these applications, there is no mention of a restaurant service which is why it is a Trademark.   

This third image protects what is written after "Goods and Services".  Since there are only Services being protected, it was a Service Mark that was Registered.    The final image of the Fry character is both a Service Mark and Trade Mark because they Registered it for multiple uses (jewelry first used in 1978, bedding in 1976, children's clothing in 1978 and their restaurant services in 1971).   In 1978, jewelry would have had a TM beside the character (bedding and children's clothing, as well) but should the image have appeared in a menu at the restaurant, it would have had an SM.  Those markings would have been the only ones found until the application was Registered.  After March 12, 1985 the markings could legally change to ® .