I remember before we had a McDonalds.  We could still get hamburgers and fries but you went to places like the L&K, the Explorer, A & W Root Beer, the Isleys, the Hamburger Inn or Jerry's Drive in (The real one where car hops came to your car on roller skates and hung a shelf on the driver side window)

The Hamburger has been an American staple for a very long time.  There are multiple claims for the first hamburger, from 1900 in New Haven Conn. by Louis Lassen to a bunch of others from every country that eats both meat and bread.   Here is what I think.

There is evidence that flat breads were made as far back as 27,866 BC.  (30,000 yrs ago)  So I think by 27,865 someone had slapped ground (chopped, hacked, pounded)  meat between flat bread and voila, the hamburger is born.  I just can't believe that our far distant relatives couldn't see the natural progression of, "Meat good, Bread good.  Meat and bread better."

I am comforted to know that my ancestors had the benefit of a nice warm burger on a frosty night around the campfire with mom and the kids.  Eventually we would learn about mustard and catsup and a golden age would be born.

I will be ruminating on a bit of hamburger archeology.  What were hamburgers like before the great standardization of the 1950' and 60's.  There were some amazing places to get great hamburgers.  Each was a bit different and a bit quirky.  There was a restaurant in Florida called The Kapok Tree that served, depending on your view, a peanut butter and grape jelly sandwich with a burger in the middle or a burger with peanut butter and grape jelly.  I had one and I do not remember it being too bad.  There was a place in Buckroe Beach, Virginia named Fuller's that would serve a special favorite of my fathers'.  It was a hamburger with American cheese and haddock roe on a toasted bun.  It wasn't on the menu but they would make one if asked.  I liked a burger made by a place called Lums.  I have heard that that was not a good choice.  I have already talked about the Kewpee Burger and it still exists.

But if you want to go to a real live old style hamburger joint you are going to have to drive to Delaware, Ohio and go to:

Hamburger Inn
16 N Sandusky St
Delaware, OH 43015

I do not lightly suggest for people to go to Delaware.  It can be spooky up there.  Delaware is the home of the Rutherford B. Hays memorial BP Station.  Yup, Delaware tore down a presidential birthplace to build a gas station.  That pretty well explains the milieu there.

Hamburger Inn is just around the corner from the Rutherford B. Hays memorial BP Station so you can visit both on the same day.  After you eat go to the Rutherford B. Hays memorial BP Station and gas up with some Rutherford B. Hays memorial gasoline.  I love history.

Hamburger Inn is a little storefront operation with huge glass windows in front.  It has been in the same place since 1932.  It has changed little.  It offers original diner food.  There is nothing fancy, nothing high tech.  They do not have a website or Wi-Fi.  The staff are sometimes preoccupied with their own concerns or talking to regulars.  If you are a rookie show a little patience and respect.  They know you are there but they also know where their tips come from.  For four years I ate breakfast there 1 out of three days and had lunch there about once a week.  Some days I didn't even have to order.

Ok here are the basics of the Hamburger Inn.  They have breakfast and I recommend their homemade home fries and their western omelet.  They can usually accommodate special requests.  There used to be this skinny guy that started his day with a 4 egg super special omelet and a slice of pie every time I saw him.  Lunch is chili, hamburgers, hand cut fries, onion rings, and pie.  I was never fond of their coffee.  They have a bunch of other stuff, home made soups, salads even a Quesedila now.  But I kept it simple and concentrated on what I felt were the stand out items.

They offer a quarter pound, half-pound and a three quarter-pound burger.  They will cook it exactly like you want it as long as that is exactly as they have been making them since 1932.  You will not find a rare burger here.  If you want something bigger, more substantial than the quarter pound have them put two quarter-pound burgers on it or three because that is how they do it.

The burgers are hot and greasy with a soft bum to soak everything up.  For me a bit of mustard and a pickle on top on my burger and American cheese made a great treat. 

I miss the fact that I can no longer walk from my office to Hamburger Inn whenever I want to.  If you are going up to tour the Rutherford B. Hays memorial BP Station some day, walk around the corner and try Hamburger Inn as that is a step back in history also but without the shame.