It is summer time, we are on summer break and your parents say “hey we are having a barbeque today.” You get excited because you get to hang out with friends and neighbors, but what about the food? What is the one item you like to eat at a barbeque? Some say hotdogs, chicken and even corn, s common item mentione was the hamburger.
Have you ever wondered who came up with hamburgers? The hamburger is a pretty simple concept; take ground beef, mold it, heat up a grill, cook them and eat. However, in 1885, at age 15, Charlie Nagreen started working selling meatballs at the Seymour Fair in Wisconsin. Charlie traveled 20 miles to go to the fair to sell his meatballs. At the fair Charlie had the sudden idea to mush his meatballs in buns . . . but why?
One day Charlie Nagreen was selling meatballs at a fair in Wisconsin. Charlie realized that he had no luck selling his meatballs. Charlie noticed many people caring for their kids and the people they didn't want to waste their time eating meatballs since meatballs would always roll off the bread. So Charlie had an idea that would change history forever. Charlie mushed his meatballs in between two buns. That way this new invention was more portable and easier to eat.
Charlie then named this invention a “hamburger”. Charlie named the hamburger after the town in Germany, Hamburg. Later Charlie Nagreen was called Hamburger Charlie. For the next 65 years he came back to the same spot to sell his hamburgers. In honor of Charlie Nagreen there is a statue of him in Seymour, Wisconsin. Now Seymour, Wisconsin is called “The home of the Hamburger.”
In the present day, the hamburger have transformed into a more complete meal. People started adding cheese, bacon, lettuce and tomatoes. Soon the arrival of pickles and one of the most popular condiments ketchup, was added to the hamburger. McDonald’s touts over billions of burgers sold!
One day as you enjoys a hamburger, remember a fun trivia fact that Charlie Nagreen created the first hamburger. And if you want to read more about the inventor of the hamburger click here https://www.homeofthehamburger.org/hamburger-charlie/
