A Happy Meal of an Interview with McDonald’s Collector Jan Antone

Jan Antone is a retired R.N. and world-class McDonald's toy and ephemera collector. McDonald's holds a special place in my heart. Jan talked about her love of the Golden Arches and her collection in the following interview.

Ephemera: How did you become interested in McDonalds toys and ephemera?

Antone: It began in the late 80's, as I love to go to garage sales in the summer. One day, I picked up one of the changeable's, and decided they were really cute, so it would give me something to collect.  They were inexpensive items at the sales, and you could find them at most every place you stopped. I actually thought at the time that someday they would be worth a lot, and perhaps could help send my children to college. Ha!

Ephemera: What challenges or obstacles do you encounter as a collector? How do you overcome these challenges?

Antone: In the beginning, I had absolutely no way of knowing what toys went with what set…only by guessing. Finally, I found a book  in 1992 by Joyce Losonsky, that has black and white drawings of the toys. I was amazed at what I had actually been passing up all that time. Unless it was "marked/stamped" McDonalds, I had no way of knowing.

So then I was on a totally new search…it was a ball!

Some people looked at the older lady with her hind end up in the air, digging through a box of toys, and I could hear whispering...but I had fun.  My mother went to Hawaii in 1976, and brought home shorts and tops in McD material for my children…plus a nice amount of yardage so I could make something else for them. I still have all those to this day.

Ephemera: What are your favorite items in the collection?

Antone: I pretty much have all the Happy Meal toys now, so went on to the other unusual and hard to find items.  I love the "character" toys better than the others. I have the set of large hand puppets that Ronald used in his shows, and I'm proud of those. Plus, I have been fortunate enough to gather the pieces to the old playgrounds as they have been replaced with the modern structures, and have a fairly large covered area now, with a dozen or so pieces.

ephemera: For those interested in McD's collectables, what resources do you recommend?

Antone: I've found that the books done by Joyce Losonsky have been the most accurate. I even donated some photos to one of her books. Gary Henriques also has written a good book, if you are ok with not being in color. As far as display, I have my most prized items all in one room of my home.  The small things are in display cases, so they don't get dirty--dust never takes a vacation. There is also a McDonalds Collectors Club that most of the avid collectors belong to. There is also a yearly convention that we all get together to buy, sell and trade.  I've found a lot of nice things at the Club conventions. There is also a Club website, online that is in the process of being re-done and think that will be a great source of information for the casual collector.

ephemera: Thanks, Jan.

Photograph by DRB52s photostream.