The Hamburger: A History »

An American cultural historian and recognized authority on food, Josh Ozersky is food editor/online for New York Magazine. He has written for The

New York Times, the New York Post, Saveur, and many other publications. His books include Meat Me in Manhattan: A Carnivore’s Guide to New York and Archie Bunker’s America: TV in an Era of Changing Times. He lives in New York City.

What do Americans think of when they think of the hamburger? A robust, succulent spheroid of fresh ground beef, the birthright of red-blooded citizens? Or a Styrofoam-shrouded Big Mac, mass-produced to industrial specifications and served by wage slaves to an obese, brainwashed population? Is it cooking or commodity? An icon of freedom or the quintessence of conformity?

 

This fast-paced and entertaining book unfolds the immense significance of the hamburger as an American icon. Josh Ozersky shows how the history of the burger is entwined with American business and culture and, unexpectedly, how the burger’s story is in many ways the story of the country that invented (and reinvented) it.

 

Spanning the years from the nineteenth century with its waves of European immigrants to our own era of globalization, the book recounts how German “hamburg steak” evolved into hamburgers for the rising class of urban factory workers and how the innovations of the White Castle System and the McDonald’s Corporation turned the burger into the Model T of fast food. The hamburger played an important role in America’s transformation into a mobile, suburban culture, and today, America’s favorite sandwich is nothing short of an irrepressible economic and cultural force. How this all happened, and why, is a remarkable story, told here with insight, humor, and gusto.

Courtney Greene - Library Journal

Cultural historian Ozersky (food editor/online, New York magazine) examines the hamburger-the bellwether, and later stalwart, of the fast-food establishment in America-as a cultural signpost for American cultural and social values. He includes meaty research on the personalities (e.g., Ray Kroc, Dave Thomas) and the corporations (e.g., McDonald's, White Castle, Big Boy) that not only perfected the delivery of the assembly-line sandwich to the masses but also profited from their ability to connect to the power of the individuality, ingenuity, and ambition inherent in the American dream, even as the shape of that dream has shifted throughout the 20th century to today-where McDonaldization and gourmet Kobe beef burgers coexist. Compelling reading, this clearly written book will attract a wide range of readers, from those with an academic interest in popular culture, U.S. history, sociology, or company histories to those generally interested in the American sociocultural landscape and the origins of McDonald's. Recommended for academic and public libraries.

Contents

Acknowledgments....................ix
INTRODUCTION Sizzle and Symbolism....................1
ONE The Hamburg-American Line....................5
TWO "All This from a Five-Cent Hamburger!"....................21
THREE The Organization Man....................50
FOUR Have It Your Way....................84
FIVE The Hamburger in Power....................114
Notes....................135
Illustration Credits....................141
Index....................143