The story of fast food begins in October 1885, near the small town of Seymour, Wisconsin. A friendly and outgoing fifteen-year-old boy named Charlie Nagreen was driving his family’s ox cart down a dirt road amid wide open field.
Charlie was going to Outagamie County’s first annual; fair, where he wanted to earn some extra money selling meatballs.
What happened next as the unlikely origin of a delicious sandwich that would one day change the world.
As Charlie sold meatballs at the fair, he noticed that customers had trouble eating and strolling at the same time.
People were impatient. They wanted to visit Mr. John Bull’s popular beehives (encased in glass), to see the fancy new harvesting machines and to enjoy all the other thrilling attractions at the fair.
They didn’t want to waste time eating meatballs. Charlie suddenly had an idea, if he squashed the meatballs and put them between two slices of bread, people could walk and eat. And so Charlie invented the hamburger.
German immigrants lived in Charlie’s hometown of Hortonville, Wisconsin and he later claimed that the new sandwich was named the German of Hamburg long famous for its ground beef steaks.
Charlie continued selling burgers at the Outagamie Country Fair until 1951.
Charlie had not only invented the hamburger but also composed one of the first advertising jingles for it.
Fast Food Begin
