Charlie Nagreen
Charles "Hamburger Charlie" Nagreen (1870-1951) was an American claimant to the title of inventor of the hamburger.[1]
This claim is supported by various local history organizations[2], but not widely accepted; see History of the hamburger in the United States.
The Seymour story goes like this:
Born in Hortonville, Wisconsin, at 15 Nagreen was a vendor at the 1885 Seymour Fair.[3] After not experiencing success selling meatballs, he had an idea.[3][4] Knowing that the visitors to the fair would be hungry after gazing at the exhibits but wouldn't be able to walk and eat, he smashed a meatball and placed it between two slices of bread.[3] His idea was a success and he returned every year until his death in 1951.[3]
The name of the Hamburger came from the idea of "Hamburg steak", or ground beef.[3] Since this was a popular item in Seymour at the time of the 1885 fair, Nagreen decided to call the sandwich the "Hamburger".[3]
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.seymourhistory.org/news/?id=35
- ^ e.g. Home of the Hamburger, Seymour, Wisconsin [1]
- ^ a b c d e f Heuer, Myron (1999-10-12). "The real home of the hamburger". Herald & Journal. http://www.herald-journal.com/archives/1998/columns/mh101298.html. Retrieved 2008-03-24.
- ^ http://www.seymour-pd.com/hamburger.html
