“Happy Meal” Chuck Middlekauff

“Cafes and diners have always been my favorite places to eat since I was a kid traveling the highways of America. I love the food and the character of those places, especially the old ones of the 40s and 50s. They sure beat the fast-food venues of today. I especially love breakfast, but I never pass up a burger and fries.

These iconic places led me to paint “Happy Meal”. 

I try to come up with interesting, clever, and fun titles to tie into the visuals of my paintings. For this one, I considered how I would handle the image of a burger and fries and the Sunday comics. Working with word associations, I came up with food, grub, lunch, chow, etc. Then I thought about comics, funny papers, cartoons, laughter, jokes, etc.

So I came up with the words “meal” and “happy”…both comics and a burger and fries would make anyone happy! It would me. So the title, “Happy Meal” became my solution for this FUN painting.

It was also a play on McDonald’s “Happy Meal” sandwich.”   Chuck Middlekauff