Today, Taco Bell serves over 2 billion consumers every year in more than 5,800 restaurants in the U.S. Fully 80% of these restaurants are owned and operated by independent franchisees. The Taco Bell story began in 1946, after the end of World War II when Glen Bell left the Marine Corps and opened his first food stand in the form of a one-man hot dog stand. He called that business Bell’s Drive-In. In 1952, he sold that stand, and opened a new place that sold hamburgers and hot dogs. It was around this time that, the McDonald brothers had started their initial unit, in an odd coincidence, also in San Bernardino.

Initially, Bell was worried that two stands in such close proximity would be a problem. Needless to say, as it turned out, the competition probably helped both of them. Still, Bell wasn’t comfortable with the idea of a pair of similar stands in the same area so he began investigating alternative menu items. As an avid Mexican food take-out customer, he began to experiment with tacos. To this end he looked to open a location in a Mexican neighborhood in order to make it look like a localized store to possible competitors.

As it turned out, the experiment worked and he opened up a second location, and he went on to build his own chain named Del Taco. Between 1954 and 1955, Bell built three Taco Tias. He also had three Bell’s Drive-Ins, so he built a small commissary to serve the six places. Eventually, when Bell’s partner was not in favor of expanding the Taco Tia’s, Bell sold out so he could expand the Taco Tia’s so he could grow the way he wanted.

He moved to LA, and began to do quite well. He formed a partnership with four LA Rams’ team members founding a chain called El Tacos, which turned out to be gold mines. In spite of the fact that business was going well, Bell found that it was tough for him to have partners, and share a dream. So he decided to go out on his own again. So he sold his share of El Tacos and in ‘62 built the first Taco Bell in Downey, CA. He opened eight small Taco Bell units in the Long Beach, Paramount and L.A. areas, which are still operating today.

It was around this time that franchising was becoming popular so Bell began expanding his operation via franchises. Kermit Becky, a former L.A. policeman, bought the first Taco Bell franchise in 1964. It was his successes that inspired others to tap into the growing operation. By ‘66 he had opened his 100^th restaurant in Phoenix, AZ. (He later admitted hating the company practice of numbering the locations.)

The company went public in ‘69. Bell continued to helm the operation until ‘75, when he tendered his resignation as Chairman of the Board. By ‘77 the company went international. In ‘78, Bell sold Taco Bell’s 868 units, to PepsiCo, Inc. Under the new ownership, the franchise really took off and by ‘93 the chain had increased to 9,707 locations. In ‘95 Taco Bell along with, the other two PepsiCo food franchises (Pizza Hut & KFC) joined forces under the management of PepsiCo Restaurant International (PRI).

Taco Bell launched its Web site (www.tacobell.com) in 1997, which is also the same year that PRI becomes Tricon Global Restaurants, Inc., a fully owned PepsiCo subsidiary.

Like all the other major fast food chains, Taco Bell took to issuing toys with its kid’s meals. However, any discussion of Taco Bell toys has to mention the Sylvester Stallone/Wesley Snipes 1993 film Demolition Man. This film took product placement to new heights as not only did Taco Bell issue a plastic cup as a tie-in to the movie, but during the course of the sci-fi movie, Stallone’s character (who had been revived in 2032 from a 1996 cryogenic sleep) was taken out to a plush dinner at a Taco Bell and was told that Taco Bell had won the fast food wars of the late 20^th century, and now was the only restaurant; something that the restaurant no doubt sees as a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Some of the more notable of these toys issued by the chain have included the following sets. In ‘95 the company issued its first set of Tick toys that which tied into the animated TV show (the Tick originally appeared in comic book form from New England Comics), a second Tick set appeared in ‘96. This second group of Tick toys proved to be more interesting in concept, design, and execution than the original set. Another superhero/animated cartoon set was the Mask (the cartoon was derived from the hit Jim Carrey movie, which, in turn, was developed off the Dark Horse comic book). A second mask set appeared during the Summer of ’97.

With the release of Star Wars Special Edition in early ‘97 Taco Bell kicked kid–meal toys into the next strata with a very elaborate set of Star Wars Toys that—in coming years—turned out to set a high standard for other chains. This set was followed by a set of totally cool Batman toys, tying into that that superhero’s film. During the summer of ’98, Taco Bell released a set of Godzilla toys that proved to very collectable, even though the movie itself wound up disappointing (Taco Bell’s TV commercials were probably the best part of the Summer of Godzilla, which probably brought people into both the franchise and the film, and helped boost the collectability of the toys themselves).

Taco Bell wound out 1998 by capitalizing on the runaway popularity of its Chihuahua spokesdog by issuing a set of Talking Plush Chihuahua toys. Four different plush talking Taco Bell Chihuahuas were available during November and December ’98. Priced from $2.99 to $3.99 with no other purchase necessary, the six-inch plush toys featured four different voice messages and accessories drawn from commercial favorites in the popular campaign. Voice chips with the actual voice of the Taco Bell Chihuahua activate when the toy’s stomach was pressed.

Of course, the highlight of the 1999 toy season was Taco Bell’s set of Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom Menace toys that were issued in conjunction with sister companies KFC and Pizza Hut. In the years that followed, the company continued to issue quite a number of very interesting and collectible toys.

Not, collectible, but certainly of note, on April 1, 1996 a full-page ad appeared in six major American newspapers (including The Philadelphia Inquirer, The New York Times, and USA Today) announcing that the fast food chain Taco Bell had purchased the Liberty Bell. The ad read in part that the Liberty Bell would now be referred to as the "Taco Liberty Bell." Needless to say, many were not amused, and by noon Taco Bell issued a second press release in which they confessed to the hoax, describing it as "The Best Joke of the Day." The company also announced that it would donate $50,000 for the upkeep of the Liberty Bell.

PHOTOS: 
Top - Batman & Robin Mr. Freeze Cup (1997)
Middle - Godzilla figure (1998)
Bottom - Taco Bell Chihuahuas (1999)

Click here for a partial Taco Bell Toy Price List

Robert J. Sodaro is the author of Kiddie Meal Collectibles (Krause; 2001), a comprehensive reference book and price guide to some 40 fast food franchises. The book contains a chronological listing of their respective toys and collectibles, as well as a price guide, which was compiled by co-author Alex G. Malloy (Comics Values Annual: Krause).