Burger History
The History of the Hamburger
1209-1121 – Genghis Khan (1167-1227), crowned the “emperor of all emperors,” and his army of fierce Mongol horsemen, known as the “Golden Horde,” conquered two thirds of the then known world. The Mongols were a fast-moving, cavalry-based army that rode small sturdy ponies. They stayed in their saddles for long period of time, sometimes days without ever dismounting. They had little opportunity to stop and build a fire for their meal.
The entire village would follow behind the army on great wheeled carts they called “yurts,” leading huge herds of sheep, goats, oxen, and horses. As the army needed food that could be carried on their mounts and eaten easily with one hand while they rode, ground meat was the perfect choice. They would use scrapings of lamb or mutton which were formed into flat patties. They softened the meat by placing them under the saddles of their horses while riding into battle. When it was time to eat, the meat would be eaten raw, having been tenderized by the saddle and the back of the horse.
1238 – When Genghis Khan’s grandson, Khubilai Khan (1215-1294), invaded Moscow, they naturally brought their unique dietary ground meat with them. The Russians adopted it into their own cuisine with the name “Steak Tartare,” (Tartars being their name for the Mongols). Over many years, Russian chefs adapted and developed this dish and refining it with chopped onions and raw eggs.
1600′s - Ships from the German port of Hamburg, Germany began calling on Russian port. During this period the Russian steak tartare was brought back to Germany and called “tartare steak.”
1758 – By the mid-18th century, German immigrants also begin arriving in England. One recipe, titled “Hamburgh Sausage,” appeared in Hannah Glasse’s 1758 English cookbook called The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy. It consisted of chopped beef, suet, and spices. The author recommended that this sausage be served with toasted bread. Hannah Glasse’s cookbook was also very popular in Colonial America, although it was not published in the United States until 1805. This American edition also contained the “Hamburgh Sausage” recipe with slight revisions.
1844 – The original Boston Cooking School Cook Book, by Mrs. D.A. Lincoln (Mary Bailey), 1844 had a recipe for Broiled Meat Cakes and also Hamburgh Steak:
Broiled Meat Cakes – Chop lean, raw beef quite fine. Season with salt, pepper, and a little chopped onion, or onion juice. Make it into small flat cakes, and broil on a well-greased gridiron or on a hot fring pan. Serve very hot with butter or Maitre de’ Hotel sauce. Hamburgh Steak – Pound a slice of round steak enough to break the fibre. Fry two or three onions, minced fine, in butter until slightly browned. Spread the onions over the meat, fold the ends of the meat together, and pound again, to keep the onions in the middle. Broil two or three minutes. Spread with butter, salt, and pepper. 1894 – In the 1894 edition of the book The Epicurean: A Complete Treatise of Analytical & Practical Studies, by Charles Ranhofer (1836-1899), chef at the famous Delmonico’s restaurant in New York, there is a listing for Beef Steak Hamburg Style. The dish is also listed in French as Bifteck à Hambourgeoise. What made his version unique was that the recipe called for the ground beef to be mixed with kidney and bone marrow: One pound of tenderloin beef free of sinews and fat; chop it up on a chopping block with four ounces of beef kidney suet, free of nerves and skin or else the same quantity of marrow; add one ounce of chopped onions fried in butter without attaining color; season all with salt, pepper and nutmeg, and divide the preparation into balls, each one weighing four ounces; flatten them down, roll them in bread-crumbs and fry them in a sauté pan in butter. When of a fine color on both sides, dish them up pouring a good thickened gravy . . . over.”Hamburgers, hamburgers, hamburgers hot; onions in the middle, pickle on top. Makes your lips go flippity flop.
The town of Seymour, Wisconsin is so certain about this claim that they even have a Hamburger Hall of Fame that they built as a tribute to Charlie Nagreen and the legacy he left behind. The town claims to be “Home of the Hamburger” and holds an annual Burger Festival on the first Saturday of August each year. Events include a ketchup slide, bun toss, and hamburger-eating contest, as well as the “world’s largest hamburger parade.”
On May 9, 2007, members of the Wisconsin legislature declared Seymour, Wisconsin, as the home of the hamburger.
1891 – The family of Oscar Weber Bilby claim the first-known hamburger on a bun was served on Grandpa Oscar’s farm just west of Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1891. The family says that Grandpa Oscar was the first to add the bun, but they concede that hamburger sandwiches made with bread may predate Grandpa Oscar’s famous hamburger.Michael Wallis, travel writer and reporter for Oklahoma Today magazine, did an extensive search in 1995 for the true origins of the hamburger and determined that Oscar Weber Bilby himself was the creator of the hamburger as we know it. According to Wallis’s 1995 article, Welcome To Hamburger Heaven, in an interview with Harold Bilby:
The story has been passed down through the generations like a family Bible. “Grandpa himself told me that it was in June of 1891 when he took up a chunk of iron and made himself a big ol’ grill,” explains Harold. “Then the next month on the Fourth of July he built a hickory wood fire underneath that grill, and when those coals were glowing hot, he took some ground Angus meat and fired up a big batch of hamburgers. When they were cooked all good and juicy, he put them on my Grandma Fanny’s homemade yeast buns – the best buns in all the world, made from her own secret recipe. He served those burgers on buns to neighbors and friends under a grove of pecan trees . . . They couldn’t get enough, so Grandpa hosted another big feed. He did that every Fourth of July, and sometimes as many as 125 people showed up.”
Simple math supports Harold Bilby’s contention that if his Grandpa served burgers on Grandma Fanny’s buns in 1891, then the Bilbys eclipsed the St. Louis World’s Fair vendors by at least thirteen years. That would make Oklahoma the cradle of the hamburger. “There’s not even the trace of a doubt in my mind,” say Harold. “My grandpa invented the hamburger on a bun right here in what became Oklahoma, and if anybody wants to say different, then let them prove otherwise.”
In 1933, Oscar and his son, Leo, opened the family’s first hamburger stand in Tulsa, Oklahoma, called Weber’s Superior Root Beer Stand. They still use the same grill used in 1891, with one minor variation, the wood stove has been converted to natural gas. In a letter to me, Linda Stradley, dated July 31, 2004, Rick Bilby states the following:
My great-grandfather, Oscar Weber Bilby invented the hamburger on July 4, 1891. He served ground beef patties that were seared to perfection on a open flame from a hand-made grill. My great-grandmother Fanny made her own home-made yeast hamburger buns to put around the ground beef patties. They served this new sandwich along with their tasty home-made rood beer which was also carbonated with yeast. People would come for all over the county on July 4th each year to consume and enjoy these treats. To this day we still cook our hamburger on grandpa’s grill, which is now fired by natural gas.
On April 13, 1995, Governor Frank Keating of Oklahoma proclaimed that the real birthplace of the hamburger on the bun, was created and consumed in Tulsa in 1891. The State of Oklahoma Proclamation states:
Whereas, scurrilous rumors have credited Athens, Texas, as the birthplace of the hamburger, claiming for that region south of the Red River commonly known as Baja Oklahoma a fame and renown which are hardly its due; and
Whereas, the Legislature of Baja Oklahoma has gone so far as to declare April 3, 1995, to be Athens Day at the State Capitol, largely on the strength of this bogus claim, and
Whereas, while the residents, the scenery, the hospitality and the food found in Athens are no doubt superior to those in virtually any other locale, they must be recognized. In the words of Mark Twain, as “the lightning bug is to the lightning” when compared with the Great City of Tulsa in the Great State of Oklahoma; and
Whereas, although someone in Athens, in the 1860′s, may have place cooked ground beef between two slices of bread, this minor accomplishment can in no way be regarded comes on a bun accompanied by such delight as pickles, onions, lettuce, tomato, cheese and, in some cases, special sauce; and
Whereas, the first true hamburger on a bun, as meticulous research shows, was created and consumed in Tulsa in 1891 and was only copied for resale at the St. Louis World’s Fair a full 13 years after that momentous and history-making occasion:
Now Therefore, I, Frank Keating, Governor of the State of Oklahoma, do hereby proclaim April 12, 1995, as THE REAL BIRTHPLACE OF THE HAMBURGER IN TULSA DAY.
1900 – Louis Lassen of New Haven, Connecticut is also recorded as serving the first “burger” at his New Haven luncheonette called Louis’ Lunch Wagon. Louis ran a small lunch wagon selling steak sandwiches to local factory workers. A frugal business man, he didn’t like to waste the excess beef from his daily lunch rush. It is said that he ground up some scraps of beef and served it as a sandwich, the sandwich was sold between pieces of toasted bread, to a customer who was in a hurry and wanted to eat on the run. Kenneth Lassen, Louis’ grandson, was quoted in the September 25, 1991 Athens Daily Review as saying;
“We have signed, dated and notarized affidavits saying we served the first hamburger sandwiches in 1900. Other people may have been serving the steak but there’s a big difference between a hamburger steak and a hamburger sandwich.”
In the mid-1960s, the New Haven Preservation Trust placed a plaque on the building where Louis’ Lunch is located proclaiming Louis’ Lunch to be the first place the hamburger was sold. Louis’ Lunch is still selling their hamburgers from a small brick building in New Haven. The sandwich is grilled vertically in antique gas grills and served between pieces of toast rather than a bun, and refuse to provide mustard or ketchup.Library of Congress named Louis’ Lunch a “Connecticut Legacy.” The following is taken from the Congressional Record, 27 July 2000, page E1377:
Honoring Louis’ Lunch on Its 105th Anniversary – Representative Rosa L. DeLauro:
. . . it is with great pleasure that I rise today to celebrate the 105th anniversary of a true New Haven landmark: Louis’ Lunch. Recently the Lassen family celebrated this landmark as well as the 100th anniversary of their claim to fame — the invention and commercial serving of one of America’s favorites, the hamburger . . . The Lassens and the community of New Haven shared unparalleled excitement when the Library of Congress named Louis’ Lunch a “Connecticut Legacy” — nothing could be more true. 1901 -Bert W. Gary of Clarinda, Iowa, started to serve Hamburg Steaks on a bun from a little cafe on the east side of Clarinda’s Courthouse Square. It started to become popular between the middle and lower class people.1904 -The hamburger gets its first widespread attention at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, Missouri, also known as the Louisiana Purchase Exhibition, where it created a sensation. A reporter for the New York Tribune wrote from the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair of a new sandwich called a hamburger, “the innovation of a food vendor on the pike.” By “Pike” he meant the World’s Fair midway.
1906 – Upton Sinclair (1878-1968), American novelist, wrote in his book called The Jungle, which told of the horrors of Chicago meat packing plants. This book caused much distrust in the United States regarding chopped meat. Sinclair was surprised that the public missed the main point of his impressionistic fiction and took it to be an indictment of unhygienic conditions of the meat packing industry. This caused people to not trust chopped meat for several years.
1916 – Walter Anderson from Wichita, Kansas, a fry cook, developed buns to accommodate the hamburger patties. The dough he selected was heavier than ordinary bread dough, and he formed it into small, square shapes that were just big enough for one of his hamburgers. He quit his job as a cook and used his life savings to purchase an old trolley car and developed it into a diner featuring his hamburgers.
1921 – Anderson is the co-founder of White Castle Hamburger with Edgar Waldo “Billy” Ingram, an insurance executive, in Wichita, Kansas.Mass distribution of the fast food hamburger started with White Castle . White Castle was such an immediate success that dozens of imitators jumped up and quickly failed. This tiny hamburger originally sold for 5 cents. Later the tell tale holes were added to the patty to speed up cooking times and eliminate the need for flipping.
1931 – Popeye the sailor man, a cartoon figures in the comic strip created by American cartoonist Elzie Crisler Segar (1894-1938) in 1929, and syndicated by the Hearst newspaper’s King Features syndicate featured the character J. Wellington Wimpy, known as Wimpy. Wimpy joined the Popeye comic strip in 1931, and he played a significant role in popularizing the hamburger in the United States. Wimpy is probably best know for his consumption of hamburgers. Wimpy loves to eat hamburgers, but is usually too cheap to pay for them. A recurring joke is Wimpy’s attempts to con other members of the diner into buying him burgers. Wimpy often tries to outwit fellow patrons with his convoluted logic. His famous line is “I’d gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.”
The popularity the character Wimpy spawned a successful chain of hamburger restaurants called Wimpy’s, that flourished for over a decade. This burger went for the upscale market at 10 cents a burger. In keeping with the founder’s wishes, all 1,500 restaurants were closed down when he died in 1978.1934 – Louisville, Kentucky:
Kaelin and his wife were plucking a chicken in their chickencoop. The floor was strewn with newspapers to catch the feathers, Kaelin looked down and the words “Restaurant for Sale” caught his eye, and his interest, the rest is history. Shortly after opening their new restaurant Kaelin was cooking a hamburger when he had a sudden inspiration, why not add a slice of American cheese? He liked the extra “tang” from the cheese and dubbed his new creation the “cheeseburger”. A proclamation from the mayor of the city of Louisville designates every October 12th (the date the cheeseburger was invented) as Kaelin’s “Cheeseburger” day in the Derby City.
1935 – Denver, Colorado:
The cheeseburger trademark was supposedly registered by Louis Ballast on March 5, 1935 of the Humpty Dumpty Barrel Drive-In in Denver, Colorado. Ballast claimed to have come up with the idea while testing hamburger toppings. Although Louis registered the name, he never made any claims, and the restaurant is now a thing of the past. Some historians dispute that he actually was issued a trademark. 1940 – San Bernardino, California: McDonald’s restaurant opened by Dick and Mac McDonald. Their introduction of the “Speedee Service System” in 1948 established the principles of the modern fast-food restaurant. The McDonald brothers began franchising in 1953. In 1961, Ray Kroc (the supplier of their multi-mixer milkshake machines) purchased the company from the brothers for $2.7 million and a 1.9% royalty. 1983 – Newtown, NSW, Australia: Mcdonalds opens a store at 285 King St Newtown.1998 – Newtown, NSW, Australia:
Mcdonalds closes its store at 285 King St Newtown! (due to “changing demographics” according to them…or perhaps a lack of patronage???) 2003 – Newtown, NSW, Australia: Burgerlicious opens its first restaurant in the iconic “food precinct” of Newtown!SOURCES:
Hamburger History: http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/HamburgerHistory.htm
The American and His Food, Revised Edition, by Richard Osborn Cummings, published by University of Chicago Press, 1970.
Birthplace of the Burger, The Lassen family has ‘em the same way for generations at Louis’ Lunch, by Jim Shelton, Register Staff.
The Better Burger Battle, Atlas of Popular Culture in the Northeatern United States, by John E. Harmon.
Beyond the Ice Cream Cone – The Whole Scoop on food at the 1904 World’s Fair, by Pamela J. Vaccaro, Enid Press, St. Louis, 2004.
Brief History of Athens, Texas, Texas Highways Magazine, July 1994.
Boston Cooking School Cook Book, by Mrs. D.A. Lincoln, Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola, New York (1996 Reprint of the 1884 Classic).
Bull Cook and authentic Historical Recipes and Practices, Volume II, by George Leonard Herter & Berthe E. Herter, 1967.
Can you believe some dispute us? We won, now we celebrate – newspaper guide to hamburger cookoff, Athens (TX) Daily Review, Athens Daily Review, September 25, 1991.
Cheap burger in paradise: History of the hamburger, by Milford Prewitt, North Carolina Discoveries.
Food in American History, Part 6 – Beef (Part 1): Reconstruction and Growth Into the 20th Century (1865-1910), by Louis E. Grivetti, PhD, Jan L. Corlett, PhD, Bertram M. Gordon, PhD, and Cassius T. Lockett, PhD, Nutrition Today Magazine, Volume 39, January/February 2004, pp 16-25.
From Boarding House to Bistro: the American Restaurant Then and Now, by Richard Pillsbury. Boston: Unwin Hyman, 1990.
Hamburgers and Mustard: A Match Made in Wisconsin, by Eric Model, published by Hidden America – USA Today, July 23, 1999.
History of the Menches Brothers.
Louis’ Lunch (A little bit a history).
Menches Bros. is more than just burgers, by Michelle Detwiler, 7/18/2002, Leader Publications, Akron, Ohio.
National Even Coming to Akron – Today is National Hamburger Day! City of Akron, 2004 News Release, May 28, 1994.
The Night 2000 Men Came To Dinner, by Douglas G. Meldrum, published by Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1994.
Old Menus Tell the History of Hamburgers in L.A., by Roger M. Grace, Thursday, January 15, 2004, Los Angeles, CA Metropolitan New-Enterprise.
Online Extra: A Hamburger’s Tasty Legacy, March 14, 2005, BusinessWeek.com.
Clarindan Is ‘Dan’ of Hamburgers, Omaha World-Herald, by Paige Carlin, date unknown.
Paying Homage To The Hamburger Is A Patriotic Duty, by Doris Reynolds, Naples Daily News, May 26, 1999.
State of Oklahoma, Executive Department, Proclamation, April 12, 1995.
Steve Church, Ridgecrest, California.
The Better Burger Battle, by John E. Harmon, Atlas of Popular Culture in the Northeastern United States.
The Complete Hamburger – The History of America’s Favorite Sandwich, by Ronald L. McDonald, published by Carol Publishing Group, 1997.
The Food of the Western World – An Encyclopedia of Food from North America and Europe, by Theodora Fitzgibbon, Quadrangle/The New York Times Book Co., 1976.
The Food Chronology – The Food Chronology – A Food Lover’s Compendium of Events and Anecdotes, from Prehistory to the Present, by James Trager, New York, published by Henry Holt and Company, 1995.
The Origin of Hamburgers and Ketchup, by Giovanni Ballarini, University of the Studies of Parma.
The White Shoe Irregular: It was Fun while it lasted, Honoring Louis’ Lunch on Its 15th Anniversary, Representative Rosa L. DeLauro, Congressional Record, 27 July 2000, page E1377.
They Only Serve Burgers Their Way, Making It In Connecticut, Your Money, March 12, 1994.
Tolbert’s Texas, The Henderson County Hamburger, by F. X. Tolbert, Doubleday & Co., Garden City, New York, 1983.
Weber’s Sperior Root Beer, by the Weber family.
Welcome To Hamburger Heaven, by Michael Wallis, Oklahoma Today Magazine, May 1995.
Who Invented Hamburger Sandwich? And What About the Cheeseburger?, by Roger M. Grace, Reminiscing, Thursday, January 8, 2004, Metropolitan News-Enterprise.