The history of the burger – Part 2
Hello Burger Fans,
Promise kept, we’re diving into the second and final part of the History of the Hamburger!
Act 1 – Episode 3: The battle for the paternity of the Burger
Who had the brilliant idea of creating the hamburger as we know it today: minced beef served between two pieces of bread?
It turns out that the answer is not so simple… In fact, at least four people claim the paternity of the Burger; all Americans but from different states…
Père du burger #1: Fletcher Davis – Athens in the State of Texas
The first hypothesis is that the hamburger was created in Athens, Texas, by a certain Fletcher Davis, nicknamed “Old Dave”. At the end of the 1880s Old Dave decided to open a small snack bar. He served a sandwich with minced beef accompanied by fried onions between two slices of bread. Legend has it that the town of Athens was mainly populated by Germans from the South, who gently mocked their Northern compatriots by emphasising their hearty appetites. They decided to name this sandwich in memory of the city of Hamburg.
Père du burger #2: Les frères Menches – Hamburg in the State of New York
The second hypothesis is that the hamburger was created by the Menches brothers in Hamburg, New York. The brothers Menches toured the region with their stall, whose speciality was sausage meat. One day in 1920 they ran out of meat. They urgently asked their butcher to supply them. Unfortunately, it was scorching hot and the butcher explained that he had better not sell pork in such heat. He offered instead to sell them beef. The brothers Menches accepted and decided to fry the minced beef, adding a little brown sugar to give it more flavour.
The story goes that the name here was given in reference to the American town of Hamburg, and not the German one, unlike another hypothesis on les origines allemandes du burger.
Père du burger #3: Louis Lassen – New Haven in the State of Connecticut
The third lead takes us to New Haven, Connecticut. In 1895, Louis Lassen owned a small stall, the ancestor of the American diner. Louis Lassen specialised in meat sandwiches. It is claimed that he invented the hamburger in 1900 by slipping a minced steak between two slices of bread. Louis Lassen’s establishment, the Louis Lunch, still exists today in New Haven.
Père du burger #4: Charlie Nagreen – Seymour in the State of Wisconsin
In 1885, a 15‑year‑old boy, Charlie Nagreen, took part in his town fair: Seymour. He sold meatballs there. It is said that he realised it wasn’t easy to eat a meatball with one hand, so he decided to flatten them and put them between two slices of bread.
The town of Seymour still claims the creation of the hamburger today and organises celebrations each year in its honour.
Act 1 – Episode 4: The emancipation of the Burger aka Free the Burger
White Castle, the beginning of the burger conquest
However, the real expansion of the Burger owes a debt to the first chain: White Castle. The White Castle chain was created by two men: Walt Anderson and Edgar Waldo Billy. Together they opened, in 1920, the first restaurant of the future White Castle chain, where hamburgers were sold for five cents each. The particularity lay, and still lies, in the fact that White Castle’s beef patties were rectangular and pierced with five holes in order to cook more quickly.
The White Castle sign still exists today, but the founders having always refused the franchise system, it has “only” 422 restaurants, all in the United States.
An unprecedented success
The hamburger industry developed very quickly in the United States and many chains appeared: Wimpy in 1930 (whose 1,500 restaurants closed when its founder died in 1978), KFC in 1939 and Burger King in 1954.
But it’s impossible to talk about hamburgers without mentioning the chain that made them known the world over: McDonald’s!
In 1937, the Mac Donalds brothers opened a small hamburger restaurant next to a cinema in Pasadena. They offered a very fast self‑service concept, which the clientele loved. Very quickly the restaurant became known throughout California. But the real expansion of McDonald’s is thanks to Ray Kroc. Sensing the enormous potential of this business, he offered a deal to the two brothers and left that evening with a franchise contract allowing him to develop a chain of restaurants.
This expanded all the way to Europe, where “Mc Do” opened its first restaurant in the early 1960s.
There you go, Burger Fans, a little general knowledge to feed your curiosity.
Still not satisfied? Discover other interesting facts about burgers.
If talking about burgers has made you hungry, don’t hesitate to discover our burgers!
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