I'm Lovin' It! McDonald's Valentines from 1974

Since it is February, and since I spend so much time at McDonald's, I thought now would be a good time to show off these unused McDonald's Valentines from 1974.

Most of the McDonaldland characters seem to have been retired. Besides Ronald McDonald, I think only Grimace can be seen these days at Mickey D's, and only on rare occasions.

These Valentines feature Ronald McDonald and some characters unknown to kids today (they were introduced in the 1970s and phased out in the 1980s). Here's Officer Big Mac (the cop with a hamburger for a head), the Professor, and The Hamburger Patch (in McDonaldland, the hamburgers grow like plants).

I love how wacky some of the McDonaldland characters were---especially Big Mac here. Too bad there wasn't a Mayor McCheese Valentine here (he may be my favorite). Like Officer Big Mac, he had a hamburger for a head.

When a friend of mine named Scott became the Mayor of his community (that's cool!), he received a Mayor McCheese toy from someone (also cool!).

Run Forrest, Run to Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.!

I really love shrimp---even fictional shrimp! Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. is a chain of restaurants themed to the 1994 Tom Hanks movie, Forrest Gump. The first Bubba Gump's restaurant debuted in 1996.

My first visit to Bubba Gump's was in October 2008 at the location in Anaheim, California's GardenWalk shopping district. Some of the people working there got a kick out of the fact that I had an Alabama Driver's License.

In November 2009, I got to visit Bubba Gump's at Universal CityWalk in Orlando, Florida. The staff seemed to enjoy giving little Forrest Gump trivia tests. I did pretty well!

I visited the Anaheim location twice in the same week. It was nice to escape the dinner and fireworks crowd at Disneyland and walk to GardenWalk for a relaxed meal. I got a Shrimp Po' Boy sandwich one night, and a Dixie Fishwich the other night. In Orlando, I tried the Baja Shrimp Tacos. Everything I tried was great!

When Forrest Gump was released, people often called me "Lieutenant Dan" (I still hear this today). I also still get called "Daniel-san" (from The Karate Kid).

Pictured here are fiberboard magnets from the Orlando restaurant's Gift Shop. I also have a plush shrimp keychain and a shrimp baseball from the Anaheim store.

Bubba Gump's shrimp character is probably the cutest shrimp I've ever seen. There are two designs---one is seen in the logo and the keychain, and a more cartoony version is on the map magnet and baseball.