National Hamburger Day takes place twice a year, and there are other burger related holidays throughout the year as well. Why more than one day for burgers? Is it because they are
so good? Well, that may be part of it. Another reason may be there are so many people who claim to have invented the burger.
Some sources say that Louis Lassen did it, at Louis' Lunch in New Haven, Connecticut, on July 28, 1900. This is the reason why July 28 is one of the National Hamburger Days.
The choosing of December 21 for a day devoted to hamburgers seems to be arbitrary and doesn't appear to be connected to anything in particular. No matter who came up with the hamburger, it was created sometime around the turn of the nineteenth century, and its popularity was boosted at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis.
The hamburger (also commonly called “burger”) most likely first appeared in the 19th or early 20th century.
The modern hamburger was a product of the culinary needs of a society rapidly changing due to industrialization,
the emergence of the working class and middle class and the demand for mass-produced, affordable food that could be consumed outside of the home.
Considerable evidence suggests the USA was the first country where two slices of bread and a ground beef steak were combined into a "hamburger sandwich" and sold. There is some controversy over the origin of the hamburger because its two basic ingredients, bread and beef, had been prepared and consumed separately for many years in different countries before their combination. Shortly after its creation, the hamburger quickly included all of its currently typically characteristic trimmings, including onions, lettuce, and sliced pickles.
After various controversies in the 20th century, including a nutritional controversy in the late 1990s, the burger is now readily identified with the United States, and a particular style of cuisine, namely fast food. Along with fried chicken and apple pie, the hamburger has become a culinary icon in the United States.
Hamburger Day (July 28 and December 21)
