This Young Astronauts Moonbase Happy Meal box from 1986, distributed by the fast-food company McDonald’s, encouraged children to imagine living on the moon by turning the Happy Meal box into a lunar backdrop and stage on which children could play with their Young Astronaut space toy. The Happy Meal box included instructions on how to fold and cut the box into a moonbase and lunar launch pad where children could land their space vehicle toy that came with the Happy Meal. The box also came with punch-out pieces of a fuel depot, workstation with tool chest, moonbase headquarters building, and lunar lookout telescope for children to use with the lunar backdrop and stage.

The history of the Happy Meal box and toy started in 1974 when Yolanda Fernández de Cofiño and her husband José María Cofiño purchased the first McDonald’s in Guatemala. Yolanda noticed the food portions for children were too large and created a smaller portioned children’s meal she named the “Ronald Menu,” which included a hamburger, small fries, and a small sundae. The “Ronald Menu” caught the attention of U.S. McDonald’s executives who asked Bob Bernstein to adapt the concept for the U.S. Bernstein led the way in designing the Happy Meal box to have games, jokes, comics, and a surprise toy inside. In 1979, the first McDonald’s Happy Meals were released with a circus-themed box and came with one of several small toy options, like a “McDoodler” stencil or “McWrist” wallet.