McDonald's Playground characters sprouting up in collector's backyards

MINNETONKA, Minn. (FOX 9) - In an ordinary-looking house in Minnetonka, there are some extraordinary pieces from the past. Christine Poague collects everything from 80s-era Swatches to eight-track tapes.

But her most interesting collection of throwbacks are the ones that populate her backyard.

"The Mayor McCheese was my first one in my collection and I had him redone recently," said Poague.

Poague says she started collecting characters from old McDonaldland playgrounds 30 years ago because she fell in love with them as a kid.

"It just makes me think of a time when I was carefree and things were easy," said Poague.

Now she has about 30 vintage statues and retired pieces of playground equipment like the Mayor McCheese climber and the Grimace bounce cage scattered around the pool behind her house.

"A lot of laughter. It just makes me smile and happy and that makes other people remember something from their childhood or their path," said Poague.

McDonaldland is a fantasy world inhabited by Ronald McDonald and his friends used to market the fast food giant to kids in the 70s and 80s.

In addition to appearing in commercials, McDonald's managers added the characters to their restaurants and playgrounds to entice kids to stay longer so they would eat and drink more with their parents.

"I read somewhere that McDonald's at one time was the second-largest playground operator in the country because they had playgrounds everywhere. So there's a snapshot in time that Generation X will appreciate that this was part of marketing. Even before Happy Meals, there were McDonald's playground characters," said another McDonaldland collector Tom Oszman.

Oszman was a regular at one of those playgrounds in West Saint Paul growing up.

"Back as a kid, McDonald's and the McDonald's characters on the playground, that was a blessing, that was a bridge to a lot of different joy, birthday parties. Everyone has fond memories of that," said Oszman.

And just like Poague, he has made it his mission to recreate those childhood memories by collecting as many items like the Mayor McCheese Roundabout (pictured above) and Apple Pie Tree as he can.

"Part of it is the adventure. Every one of these pieces came from a different state, and they all have a different story of someone that had it and how they got it. Some are rather charming, Some are very interesting," said Ozman.

So far, Oszman has about a half dozen in his backyard in Maplewood and even more in his basement.

Since the pandemic, he's been traveling the country to find, buy and restore these pop culture icons.

"When I see delivery people come up to the door and they do a triple check or they are laughing or taking pictures of themselves with them, that's fantastic. That's why I like doing it," said Oszman.

The McDonaldland characters may have been made for children, but Oszman says you are never too old to clown around.

"It's a playground for big kids and it's been a lot of fun to take pictures here and have people take pictures with it, which I encourage and want people to enjoy this place," said Oszman.