The great hamburger controversy

[Orrin_73]

Where was the first hamburger invented? Texas or Connecticut?
Now two US state claim they invented the hamburger.

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut (AP) -- A burger battle is brewing between a Texas state legislator and the owners of a restaurant who claim the hamburger was invented in New Haven, Connecticut.

With the new session of the Texas legislature now under way, Republican State Rep. Betty Brown has proposed a resolution declaring Athens, Texas, the original home of the hamburger.

I always thought Hamburg, Germany!

Burger battle brewing between Texas, Connecticut

[Pacifist Patriot]

1. First vote for...

who fucking cares?

Okay, granted it's the vegetarian perspective. ;)

[Redstone]

2. Assholes from Texas gotta keep picking fights, don't they? (Not Texas DUers, of course.)

And they're wrong.

And, by the way, there's not much evidence to show that they actually MADE ground-beef patties in Hamburg, Germany back then. It's a real mystery how the hamburger got that name, according to many sources.

(Yes, I real a LOT of books about food.)

Redstone

[Orrin_73]

4. Could it be that german immigrants to texas

introduced it. I have read somewhere that 35% percent of texas population is german descended.

[Redstone]

6. But they didn't EAT hamburgers in Hamburg back then, as far as anyone can tell.

Redstone

[texanwitch]

15. You are right about a lot of Germans in Texas, also a lot of Czechs.

I have both in my family tree.

The famous chicken fried steak started in Texas.

[Orrin_73]

20. If Im not wrong

germans are the largest enthnicity in the US. There are some 60 million of them in the US.

[Deja Q]

3. Oh brother...

surely the news article on how to make kiddie birthday parties cost effective, without succumbing to 'keeping up with the Joneses', is more worthy? :crazy:

[Kutjara]

5. From Wikipedia:

Although Hamburg, Germany is credited for the precursor to the hamburger, the origins of the first "modern" hamburger are often debated among scholars. <1> Of much debate is what exactly constitutes the "modern" hamburger, although there is general consensus that it refers to a hamburger patty's placement in a hamburger bun (not just any piece of bread). The hamburger bun is said to have been invented in 1916 by Walter Anderson, a short-order cook, who went on to co-found White Castle in 1921. Before the bun, hamburgers are said to have been served between two pieces of bread. In fact, a ground beef patty was known as "Hamburger steak" (first mentioned in an American cookbook in 1891); when this was put between bread or in a bun it was called a "Hamburger sandwich".

One claim of inventing the Hamburger sandwich comes from Charlie Nagreen of Seymour, Wisconsin. In 1885, he tried selling fried meatballs at the Outagamie County fair, but customers found them hard to eat while walking around the fair, so Nagreen flattened it and made it into a sandwich he called the "hamburger". (Seymour is home to the Hamburger Hall of Fame and the world's largest hamburger, weighing in at 8,266 pounds <3,749 kg>.)

Hamburg, New York, also claims credit for the invention of the hamburger. This village celebrates a "Burgerfest" every summer, held to mark the anniversary of the hamburger's creation at the Erie County Fair in 1885 by the Menches brothers who lived and worked in Akron, Ohio.

Another claim is made by a small lunch counter in the town of New Haven, Connecticut, named Louis' Lunch. It is sometimes credited with having invented this quick businessman's meal for busy office workers in 1900. Louis' Lunch was serving hamburgers from its closet-sized original location in the 1970s until it had to be re-located to 261-263 Crown Street to make room for a high-rise. Their burgers are made the same way they were since the beginning, which means toasted bread instead of a hamburger bun and no condiments; the only permitted garnishes are cheese, tomato, and onion.

On January 12, 1974, the New York Times ran a story about Louis' Lunch and its impending doom. In this story it stated, "a serious challenge to the title is a theory supported by the McDonald's Corporation, the nationwide hamburger chain. McDonald's historians have researched the problem and claim the inventor was an unknown food vendor at the St. Louis Fair in 1904." This food vendor is most likely Fletcher Davis (1864-1941), also known as "Old Dave" or "Uncle Fletch". Fletcher operated a café at 115 Tyler Street on the north side of the courthouse square in Athens, Texas in the late 1880's. The late Texas historian, Frank X. Tolbert researched Fletcher Davis and claims that he invented the "hamburger sandwich". Local history also supports that Fletcher was selling an unnamed sandwich of ground beef between two slices of bread at his lunch counter in the late 1880's. In 1904 Davis and his wife Ciddy with backing from local business took their sandwich to the 1904 World's Fair. Fletcher and Ciddy lauched their invention from, "Old Dave's Hamburger Stand" located on the pike at the fair. ("pike" meaning the midway.) Evidence of this comes from a New York Tribune article written by a reporter at the fair of a new sandwich called a hamburger, "the innovation of a food vendor on the pike." Tolbert's investigation proved that "Old Dave" was Fletcher Davis from Athens (Tolbert 1983). In addition to McDonald's claim, Dairy Queen ran a commercial during the 1980's that was filmed in the Athens, TX square, stating that Athens was the birthplace of the hamburger. In November 2006, The Texas State Legislature introduced Bill HCR-15, designating Athens as the "Original Home of the Hamburger".

[Redstone]

8. Uh-huh. ANY of those places still in business, and STILL USING THE ORIGINAL

BROILERS?

Only one is, and that's good old Louis. By the way, they use toast, not buns, and the burgers are grilled vertically, not flat.

Redstone

[darkstar]

14. delete

...

[darkstar]

17. There are claims the ice cream cone was invented for the 1094 fair, too

Burgers and ice cream. Meet me in St. Louie, Louie...

[hickman]

29. Where exactly was the fair held in 1094?

:shrug: :P

[darkstar]

31. Oops. Rat on a stick was all the rage in 1094.

sorry, friends...

:shrug:

[hickman]

36. Probably prizes given for whose lice could jump faster,

and further. Probably flowers given to maidens who hadn't been raped yet. Ah those were the days!

[crim son]

7. Couldn't care less. Now I want a hamburger. n/t

[Redstone]

10. Comin' right up. What you want on that burger?

Redstone

[crim son]

12. Everything except peanut butter.

I like to eat. :7

[Redstone]

13. OK, that'll be cheese, onions, pickles, tomatoes, lettuce, olives, mushrooms, chili,

coleslaw, and artichoke hearts, then?

And a double order of napkins, with a side order of Pepto?

Redstone

[crim son]

16. You forgot the chipotle peppers. THEN

the pepto. Thanks! It looks delicious. :pals:

[Redstone]

21. Agh! I forgot the peppers because I can't eat them! Sorry.

Forgot the mustard, too. Brown or yellow?

Redstone

[crim son]

23. Brown please.

We don't have to put the peppers on if you don't want them. But, no anchovies. That's where I draw the line.

[Redstone]

24. Brown? Then it's Plochmann's, pride of Chicago. And anchovies? FISH on a burger?

Yuck.

Redstone

[crim son]

25. We're not well acquainted and for all I know

you'd like a dollop of whipped cream on yours, too.

[Redstone]

27. No, I'm kind of a burger traditiionalist. I like a good slawburger now and again, though.

Redstone

[TommyO]

32. I had a great burger down in DC this past weekend

It was served on a pita which actually complemented the medium-rare goodness nicely.

[crim son]

39. It's 9:19 a.m. and you have brought back the craving.

I guess I'm going out for lunch!

[Fuzz]

9. I've eaten at Louis Lunch in New Haven

Good burger. Just DON'T ask for ketchup. They get real pissy about that.

[Redstone]

11. I take 'em out to the car or over to the Green and slide some ketchup and mayo on them.

Some "traditions" are annoying.

Redstone

[blitzen]

19. I used to live in New Haven, have eaten at Louis's, and am a hamburger lover

I'm not sure if they invented them, but--in an attempt to speak objectively--I will say this: their burgers suck! Now, they are tasty little things, but they really don't measure up to what most of us burger lovers would call a "burger."

[Redstone]

22. That's because they're so prissy about the condiment issue. A burger on toast instead

of a bun is fine, but jeez, people, lighten up!

Redstone

[Fuzz]

30. Agreed.

There was a place in Meriden that steamed their burgers. Greasy as hell, but also juicy. Didn't like them that much though. Can't remember the name. But the things they cooked them in must have been nearly 100 years old.

[Redstone]

35. Yes, the steamed burger is a Wallingford / Meriden thing. Ted's is the name, I think.

never tried one, though.

Someday I will. Just to say I have.

Redstone

[rug]

18. Best line of the story:

"We are even the birthplace of George Bush who wants people to think he's from Texas," the mayor said. "So yes, the hamburger is as much a New Haven original as President Bush. Get over it, Texas."

[flvegan]

26. It's the steroids and growth hormone in the meat that makes them fight.

:evilgrin:

Oooh, how I've been waiting to drop that one.

[Redstone]

28. I don't doubt you one bit. Though I'd warrant that Louis doesn't buy beef with that

crap in it.

We don't eat much beef, but when we do, in comes from the little store on Main Street. We know where their beef comes from, and have even been to the farm. They don't put that crap into their cows.

Redstone

[KurtNYC]

33. Seems like it evolved more than it was invented

And what really matters is who makes the best burgers now?

[Wapsie B]

34. God all this talk about burgers is making me hungry.

Damn, and me on a diet.

[Oldtimeralso]

37. I just want a...

Cheeseburger in Paradise!

[hippywife]

38. You know

it's just such a simple idea, that it's possible they both, along with an unknown number of people, invented it for themselves at some point in time. Just because someone hasn't seen something before doesn't make them the first to invent it. Ya know? ;)