First appearance of hamburger

Every day around the world, millions of hamburgers are sold in thousands of restaurants. It is ironic, given this magnitude of sales, that most hamburgers are remarkably similar: ground beef on a bun with condiments such as ketchup, mustard, and pickles.

One of the earliest events at which a burger in a bun was sold was the 1904 World’s Fair at St. Louis, Missouri. Food, edible and otherwise, was everywhere present at St. Louis 1904 centenary celebration of the Louisiana Purchase.

The widest-reported "first" appearance of the hamburger most commonly cited in the lore of foodservice was that the product appeared at the World's Fair in St. Louis in 1904. It is most widely believed that the burger was introduced by Fletcher “Old Dave” Davis from Athens, Texas. Fletcher began selling the ground beef patty sandwich at the amusement area, known as The Pike.

On the “Pike,” the Fair’s only-slightly-risqué amusement mile visitors could snack at dozens of concessions. There they enjoyed such relatively new or unfamiliar treats as ice cream scooped into cones, hamburgers enfolded in buns, spun-sugar “fairy floss” (today’s cotton candy), peanut butter, and Dr. Pepper, the Texas drink that called itself “King of Beverages,” and promised “Vim, Vigor & Vitality” on every bottle.

The Exposition has been credited with helping to introduce or popularize the hamburger sandwich, and also many other foods, such as hot dog, machine-ground peanut-butter, puffed rice, iced tea, and Dr. Pepper soda.

It wasn’t until the 1920s, however, that hamburgers became the centerpiece of a new marketing concept for American restaurants. Although the hamburger wasn’t called “fast food” then, the first business that can accurately be called a fast food restaurant was White Castle, which began in Wichita, Kansas in 1921.
First appearance of hamburger