Читать книгу All about the Burger - Sef Gonzalez - Страница 15

Who would have thought that a five-stool burger stand in Wichita, Kansas, would be responsible for changing the course of hamburger history?

Walter Anderson, who had owned and operated many restaurants, got the ball rolling. He created a unique method of preparing the hamburger. It involved smashing the beef patty, along with some shredded onions, with a spatula, then turning it over and placing both halves of the bun on the meat to pick up the steam and flavors. Across the street from the hamburger stand where he worked was a remodeled street car, now home to a shoe shop.

On October 16, 1916, after purchasing the street car for sixty dollars (almost $1,500 today), he installed three stools and a counter that he built, along with an icebox. His small budget left him with enough money to buy a flat piece of iron that would act as a flat-top. It wasn’t the ideal situation for cooking hamburgers because the grease would drip off the edges, but he made do. He also ground and prepared the meat directly behind the counter, which helped dispel the public’s uneasiness about eating ground beef.

Outside of his hamburger stand, he hung a sign that read “Hamburgers 5¢.” Anderson made $3.75 in sales on that first day. He launched the catchphrase, “Buy ’em by the Sack,” to encourage customers to buy his burgers by the half dozen.