@sun I don't remember early 1980s McDonald's fries as being anything spectacular, though they were pretty good if you could get them made fresh. In-N-Out fries of the time were really awesome IF you ordered them well-done, no-salt and then ate them immediately.

Some time in the 1990s, McDonald's fries were really great. I don't recall whether they were using beef fat or hydrogenated vegetable oil by that time.

The best fries I ever had were cooked by my siblings and I using Crisco vegetable shortening in the 1970s.

(French fries have been a top-5 favorite food since the 1960s, but most food places serve really terrible fries.)