Now That's a Tasty Burger Battle
State Rep. Betty Brown's seemingly harmless bill to declare Athens as "original home of one of the nation's favorite foods, the hamburger" has sparked a battle royale (with cheese; sorry, couldn't resist.) that now involves three states.
First came a Connecticut restaurant owner to dispute Athens' claim. See this story.
And now comes a lawmaker in Wisconsin who says the hamburger was invented in Seymour, Wis., just west of Green Bay.
According to AP, Democratic State Rep. Tom Nelson is proposing a resolution not unlike Ms. Brown's in Texas. “Seymour is the hamburger capital, period,” Nelson said.
And there were fightin' words from Seymour Mayor Harold Pingel, who says Athens' claim to the hamburger is "bologna." Indeed, Seymour's hamburger legend appears to predate Athens' by almost two decades.
According to AP: "On its Web site, Seymour says Charlie Nagreen created the first hamburger in 1885 at the Seymour Fair. Each August, Seymour’s Burger Fest attracts thousands of people for such features as the Ketchup Slide, a parade and the Bun Run."
Not only that: Seymour also claims a record for the largest burger -- 8,000 pounds.
Read the jump for the text of Ms. Brown's bill and Athens' claim to hamburger history.
80R583 MMS-D
By: Brown of Kaufman H.C.R. No. 15
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Athens, Texas, boasts a strong claim to being the
original home of one of the nation's favorite foods, the hamburger;
and
WHEREAS, Although accounts differ as to the origins of this
American classic, the staff at McDonald's management training
center has traced its beginnings back to the 1904 St. Louis World's
Fair, where it was sold by a vendor on the midway; a reporter for the
New York , writing about the fair, made note of the new
sandwich in an article and commented that it was the vendor's own
creation; and
WHEREAS, The vendor, Fletcher Davis, had moved from Missouri
to Athens in the 1880s to take a job at the Miller pottery works;
Mr. Davis had a flair for preparing food and usually served as chef
at his employer's picnics; when the business slowed down in the late
1800s, he opened a lunch counter on the courthouse square, where he
sold the sandwich that would become such a staple of the U.S. diet;
and
WHEREAS, Although it was served with slices of fresh-baked
bread instead of a bun, this early version of the hamburger was then
much like it is today and contained ground beef, ground mustard
mixed with mayonnaise, a large slice of Bermuda onion, and sliced
cucumber pickles; customers could also enjoy fried potatoes, served
with a thick tomato sauce; when the journalist from the was
told that Mr. Davis had learned to fix potatoes in that manner from
a friend in Paris, Texas, he misunderstood and described the item to
his readers as french-fried potatoes; and
WHEREAS, According to a nephew of Mr. Davis's, the new
sandwich acquired its name during the potter's sojourn in
St. Louis; one theory holds that local residents of German descent
may have named the sandwich after the city of Hamburg, whose
citizens had a special affinity for ground meat; each June,
residents of Athens celebrate the hamburger's origins in their
community with Uncle Fletch's Burger and Bar-B-Q Cook-Off; and
WHEREAS, A century after the hamburger debuted on the
national stage, it has become one of the best-loved foods in
America; its economic impact is no less evident than its
popularity: the immense volume of the burger business helps to
drive the beef and grain industries and supports the employment of a
substantial workforce; and
WHEREAS, The connection between Athens, Fletcher Davis, and
the famed hamburger of the St. Louis World's Fair has been well
documented, and it is fitting that the town's role in the history of
that all-American sandwich be appropriately recognized; now,
therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 80th Legislature of the State of Texas
hereby formally designate Athens, Texas, as the Original Home of
the Hamburger.