Man owns 75,000 pieces of memorabilia in a collection - PHOTO

Mike Fountaine - whose collection spreads over more than 7,000sq ft at his home in Pennysylvania, America - owns more than 1,000 McDonald's cups, 11,700 lapel pins and nearly every Happy Meal toy the chain has produced.The 60-year-old's collection also includes uniforms, buttons and old displays - as well as a giant figure of the fast food chain's mascot, Ronald McDonald.But despite Mr Fountaine's collection already having 398 categories, the restaurant owner has no intention of slowing down - and says he still adds more than 100 items to the horde each month.He said: 'This collection means everything to me, it is my life's work. Thousands and thousands of hours have been spent assembling this collection and taking pride to display it extremely nicely.'I'm very proud to be a part of the McDonald's family. We have a saying here when you love the business that you have 'ketchup in your veins', which I certainly do.'Mr Fountaine started working on the grill at McDonald's in 1968 - the same month the Big Mac was introduced - when he was 15.He started collecting items from the fast food chain one year later, after he was given a lapel pin to celebrate his first year of service.  Now Mr Fountaine has so much stuff, he had to build a 2,400sq ft barn to house it all - even though he already had nine rooms and two miles of shelving filled with his collection.Mr Fountaine's storage system also includes a 'secret room', to add an air of mystery to his collection.He said: 'My secret room contains nearly every happy meal display ever made in the US and every happy meal toy made between 1979 and 2005.'I built the barn to help house the happy meal collection from 2005 to the present day as well as other pieces.'I also have a room containing more than 1,000 McDonald's cups and glasses from throughout its history.'In total my collection takes up around 7,000sq ft on my property.'The McDonald's fanatic has spent hours meticulously arranging his items, ensuring they are put on display in the right order and category. He is unable to put an price tag on the collection but says thousands of man hours have gone into amassing and cataloging the haul.He said: 'My table of content has 398 categories including buttons, lapel pins, cups, uniforms, happy meal displays and equipment.'Fortunately for Mr Fountaine, his girlfriend Susan Wirth enjoys living with the collection too.She said: 'On our first date Michael and I went out to dinner and then he showed me his collection. It was 2am before I saw the whole collection and we were quite tired after that.'But it's not just the collection in which Mr Fountaine takes pride.His restaurant in Allentown, Pennsylvania, boasts a cherry wood fireplace and chandeliers.He said: 'People say it's the most beautiful McDonald's restaurant they have ever seen. I wanted to make it first class all the way and at lunch time it's always full.'I installed a musical playground for children, of which there are less than ten in the world. I wanted to make it my trophy restaurant.'In 1986, Mr Fountaine was presented with the Ronald McDonald award for his local community service work.He hopes to turn his collection into a museum to help raise money for Ronald McDonald charities. He said: 'By charging admission to see the collection any money raised could go to Ronald McDonald House charities to help kids around the world who have cancer.'McDonald's archivist, Mike Bullingdon, said: 'In my opinion Mike has the most encompassing collection in the world, it's in pristine shape, they're one of a kind pieces, it's just awesome.'(dailymail.co.uk)Bakudaily.az