Author Andrew F. Smith (on the right) getting ready to go on stage.
One of the most interesting statistics in Andrew F. Smith's book Hamburger: A Global History is that one in eight people in America have worked at McDonald's. While I am not part of that 12.5 percent (Smith is) I'm interested in McDonald's and the hamburger story, which is why I went to hear him speak at the Plaza Library. The e-mail about free Westport Flea Market burgers also didn't hurt.
As advertised, the Flea Market was giving away hamburgers. Not just samples, but generous quarter-pounders served with flair by a tuxedo-wearing gentleman named Ron. No sooner had I taken a couple of bites than the 50 to 60 of us there to hear Smith speak were ushered to our seats.
Dressed in standard professor wear of tweed and khakis, and speaking without notes, Smith started off by asking the audience a question about where hamburgers were invented. Sure enough, several people raised their hands and Smith called on them. (Answer: nobody knows for sure but probably Chicago.) The rest of the speech followed the same pattern of audience participation with some fascinating historical fact.
Smith is fond of saying that hamburgers are lower-class food and that they're really just fresh sausage. Because sausage has existed for centuries, it's rather odd to think that it took until the 1870s for people to start grinding up leftover meat into patties. But as Smith explained, before then, raw meat was in vogue and it took a Dr. Salisbury (of the steak fame) to convince people to grind up meat. It would be another 20 years after patties became popular before cart-vendors started to put them on buns.
Once it was invented, the hamburger caught on like wildfire. Smith's research has shown that within two years of its first mention in Chicago, hamburgers were popular in places as far away as Honolulu. Eventually the automobile caused street vendors to disappear and in their place rose the first burger restaurant in a converted shoe store -- Wichita's White Castle.
Smith claims the reason White Castle became so successful was not only the consistent architecture of every store, but the fact they purposely opened up in inner cities across the street from 24-hour factories. They served burgers, milk and pie but no french fries.
It wasn't until World War II that french fries and hamburgers became the duo they are today. Potatoes were an unrationed food, so White Castle figured out a way to use them. While strict beef rationing almost put White Castle out of business, it also lead to inventions years ahead of their time. The earliest egg McMuffins were White Castle creations during WWII that McDonald's later stole in the 1970s.
Smith talked about eating at an original McDonald's owned by the McDonald brothers (as opposed to a Ray Kroc McDonald's corporation restaurant) and said that the way they ground the beef on site and peeled the potatoes in the back reminded him of today's much-praised In-N-Out Burger. In addition to In-N-Out Burger, Smith said his other favorite chain was Five Guys Burgers and Fries. A Five Guys opened in Olathe (14965 W 119th St.) about a year ago.
Only during questions did Smith talk about hamburgers' role outside of America. He mentioned Wimpy's hamburger chain (longtime Kansas City residents will remember the Wimpy's on 85th and Troost and the one at 95th and Antioch, which is now a Pride Cleaners) and how it was the only hamburger chain in England from the 1950s to the 1980s. To this day, there are Wimpy's in Brazil and South America.
Smith also mentioned that even as McDonald's brings American fast food to China and other developing countries, those countries are bringing fast food right back to us. Each country has its own indigenous burger chain and those chains are starting to come to America. The Filipino burger chain Jollibee has opened 20 restaurants in California and is looking to expand.
Smith's talk was interesting and thought-provoking but really, it just made me hungry for another hamburger served by Ron. -- By Owen Morris
Showing 1-3 of 3
I worked for Sam when I was teenager for 4 years . Wimpy was on 43 and Prospect and 1st store on 77th and Troost.
Then 77th& Troost location moved down to 85th(?) Troost.
If anyone knows where the Chili steaks were purchase. Let me know the distributor name.
Thanks
J. Valverde
Ok the Wimpy's they were talking about that is on Troost was not an international chain whatsoever. My Uncle Sammy owned it and it was the only one for a long time. They had two different locations when he owned it and then his nephew stole it out from under him and they tried to open a second location in another part of town. It folded shortly after that and then Sammy died.
like
dislike
