Hey Bob, cut me some slack. It was 1974, I was 22. The only milkshakes I knew were whirled up in the blender at home: real whole milk & real ice cream, as you say. I led a sheltered childhood; my mother knew how to cook, and did. And my elder brother was somewhat of a connoisseur of milkshakes. At that time in Germany a blender was definitely a new, and rather foreign article. I bought one, but it was incredibly weak. So, anyway, all that in my defense. McD’s milkshake was, it appeared, the answer to a young ex pat American’s dream of home. She was wrong. I’ve never felt the need to go to McD’s again since then, and, by extension, other fast food places. My DH is German, and also didn’t grow up in that sort of environment. We might have stopped at such a place on our travels to use the rest room, but never to eat. Not to denigrate those who do, it just isn;t something that appeals to either of us.