Heaven knows I love a good hamburger. I know, I know. I’m leaving a footprint when I eat meat, specifically beef.
But, I drive very rarely, I fly even less, and I recycle all that I can find to recycle. I’m against aerosols. And I waste very little. So, a girl needs a hamburger every now and again.
To tell the truth of things, it may be one of my favorite foods if it is made in the most amazing way.
Yet, before today, I’ve never considered its origins, its creation, its invention date. And apparently, it is one of the most disputed facts in all of history, with no conclusive outcome.
Since people figured out they could eat cows, I just supposed there must have been hamburgers around, which would take us back to just after Adam and Eve. But that isn’t the case. The invention of the hamburger occurred just within the last century or so, and most seem to think it happened in America.
Here is the list of characters and the claims of the invention. I will give my gold, silver, and bronze picks at the end since this should be another Olympic Sport. Everything else is these days.
The Players:
Louis Lassen
It was actually on this date, July 28, in 1900, that Louis Lassen created his version of the hamburger. He was a Danish immigrant and owner of Louis’ Lunch in New Haven, Connecticut. The story goes that Louis’ dish actually had no name “until some rowdy sailors from Hamburg named the meat on a bun after themselves years later.” (New Yorker Magazine) But good Louis created it when a customer ordered a quick hot meal and Louis was fresh out of steaks. So, he took ground beef trimmings and formed a patty. We know the rest. He threw it on the grill and put it between two slices of toast.
Charlie Nagreen
One of the earliest claims comes from Charlie Nagreen. He sold a meatball between two slices of bread at the Seymour Fair in Wisconsin in 1885. They called the guy “Hamburger Charlie” because of the invention. It all started when he was a mere fifteen years olds. He made the meaty sandwich between two slices of bread, so his customers could eat while walking. And, he named the hamburger after the Hamburg steak, a favorite of local German immigrants in the area.
Otto Kuase
According to White Castle, Otto Kuase was the inventor of the hamburger. In 1891, he created a beef patty cooked in butter and topped with a fried egg. German sailors would later omit the fried egg. Otto Kuase was from Hamburg, hence the name.
Oscar Weber Bilby
The family of Oscar Weber Bilby claimed the first-known hamburger on a bun was served on July 4, 1891, on Grandpa Oscar’s farm. The bun was a yeast bun. Ummm. His family. At a backyard party.
Frank and Charles Menches
Frank and Charles Menches made their big claim to have sold a ground beef sandwich at the Erie County Fair in 1885 in Hamburg, New York. During the fair, they ran out of pork sausage for their sandwiches. They substituted beef. The story notes that the name of the hamburger comes from Hamburg, New York, not Hamburg, Germany.
Fletcher Davis
Fletcher Davis of Athens, Texas, claimed to have invented the hamburger. According to oral histories, in the 1880s, he opened a lunch counter in Athens and served a ‘burger’ of fried ground beef patties with mustard and Bermuda onion between two slices of bread, with a pickle on the side. Ummm. He said this.
My winners?
Otto Kause gets the gold. I think the fried egg on top sealed the deal for me. But his association with Hamburg, Germany, was key in giving him the top spot.
Next is Louis Lassen. Really, it’s his name. I’m fond of Louis. My Louis loves hamburger. So there it is.
And third place goes to Charlie Nagreen. If people called him Hamburger Charlie, they were doing it for a darn good reason.
White Castle was the first chain to focus solely on hamburgers, starting in 1921. Then Kewpee Burgers in 1923. And White Tower in 1926.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Americans consume an average of 2.4 burgers per day, which is about 50 billion burgers per year. Where’s the beef?
If you used all the available meat on the average cow to create a quarter-pound minced hamburger, you would get about 1600 burgers from one cow.
And, as always. I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.
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If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.
— Carl Sagan
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To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.
— Thomas A. Edison
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If it’s flipping hamburgers at McDonald’s, be the best hamburger flipper in the world. Whatever it is you do you have to master your craft.
— Snoop Dogg
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Cheeseburger. Cheeseburger. Hamburger.
