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History of Hamburgers Timeline
(1200s - Present)Origins
Hamburgh sausage appears in German cuisine
1747
A recipe for a smoked and salted chopped beef dish called 'Hamburgh sausage' was published in Hannah Glasse's 1747 cookbook 'The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy', one of the earliest written references linking Hamburg with processed minced beef.
Image source: History of the hamburger
Hamburg steak becomes popular in Europe and America
1880
The 'Hamburg steak' — a seasoned, minced beef patty served like a steak — became a staple on American menus in the late 19th century, brought by German immigrants from the port city of Hamburg. It appeared in cookbooks and restaurants as a cooked patty of chopped beef.
Image source: Hamburg steak
Early American Era
'Delessert's Hamburger Steak' sold at Delmonico's restaurant
1873
Delmonico's, New York's famed fine-dining establishment, offered a 'Hamburger Steak' on its menu for 10 cents, helping introduce minced beef patties to upscale American diners decades before the sandwich form existed.
Image source: Delmonico's
Charlie Nagreen reportedly sells 'hamburger' at Seymour Fair
Aug 25, 1885
Fifteen-year-old Charlie Nagreen ('Hamburger Charlie') allegedly flattened a meatball between slices of bread at the Outagamie County Fair in Seymour, Wisconsin, so customers could walk while eating — a claim that earned Seymour the title 'Home of the Hamburger'.
Image source: Charlie Nagreen
Frank and Charles Menches claim hamburger invention at Erie County Fair
Sep 1885
Brothers Frank and Charles Menches claimed they ran out of pork sausage at the Erie County Fair in Hamburg, New York, and substituted grilled chopped beef between bread, naming it after the town. Their account remains one of several competing origin stories.
Image source: Hamburger
Oscar Weber Bilby serves first hamburger on a bun claim
1891
In Tulsa, Oklahoma, Oscar Weber Bilby claimed to have been the first to serve a hamburger on a homemade yeast bun rather than bread slices, an innovation later celebrated by Oklahoma's governor declaring Tulsa the true home of the hamburger.
Image source: Tulsa, Oklahoma
Louis Lassen serves ground beef sandwich at Louis' Lunch
1900
Louis' Lunch in New Haven, Connecticut, claims that Louis Lassen first served ground beef between two slices of toast in 1900 for a hurried customer. The Library of Congress has recognized Louis' Lunch as the birthplace of the hamburger sandwich.
Image source: Louis' Lunch
Rise of Fast Food
White Castle founded, pioneering fast-food hamburgers
Sep 13, 1921
Walter Anderson and Billy Ingram opened White Castle in Wichita, Kansas, selling small square 'sliders' for five cents. With clean white porcelain interiors and standardized preparation, White Castle rehabilitated the hamburger's image after Upton Sinclair's 'The Jungle' had damaged public trust in ground beef.
Image source: White Castle (restaurant)
Kaelin's Restaurant in Louisville names the cheeseburger
1924
Louisville teenager Lionel Sternberger is often credited with adding a slice of cheese to a hamburger at his father's Pasadena sandwich shop around 1924, though Louisville's Kaelin's Restaurant also claims to have invented and named the cheeseburger in 1934.
Image source: Cheeseburger
Bob's Big Boy introduces double-decker burger
1937
Bob Wian created the original double-decker hamburger at his Bob's Pantry diner in Glendale, California, stacking two beef patties with lettuce, cheese, and special sauce. The Big Boy became an icon of American roadside dining and inspired many imitators.
Image source: Big Boy Restaurants
Key Facts
- Minced meat dishes resembling early hamburgers were eaten by Mongol and medieval European peoples as early as the 13th century.
- German immigrants brought the 'Hamburg steak'—a seasoned chopped beef patty—to the United States in the 19th century.
- The hamburger sandwich is widely credited to vendors at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, though several Americans claim to have invented it between 1885 and 1904.
- White Castle, founded in 1921, was the first fast-food hamburger chain and helped popularize the burger nationwide.
- McDonald's, launched in 1948 and franchised in the 1950s, transformed the hamburger into a global symbol of American fast food.
Source
This History of Hamburgers timeline was generated with the help of AI, using information found on the internet.
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