The Hamburger: A History

Icons of America

by Josh Ozersky

America has run on hamburgers for almost a century. This is the story of their sizzle and their symbolism, where they came from and how they conquered the world.

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.

Genres: Food, History, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Cooking, United States

160 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Josh Ozersky was an American cultural historian and recognized authority on food, and 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.

Reviews

[Orsolya · Rating 1 out of 5]

Although I am Vegetarian, even I recognize hamburgers as being a quintessential symbol of All-American food. From fast food to barbecues, gastro pubs to school lunches, casual to celebratory… They are virtually everywhere. How did this basic sandwich come to be? What does it symbolize? Josh Ozersky looks at the social and pop history of a burger in, “The Hamburger”.

To be clear, Ozersky aimed to cover the social history of burgers but that isn’t quite how “The Hamburger” turned out. Ozersky’s “The Hamburger” begins par on this course attempting to decipher the precise origin of the hamburger. However, this quickly leads into a discussion of fast food and “The Hamburger” basically becomes a quick history of McDonald’s. The majority of the text describes the evolution and takeover of McDonald’s and eschews any real mention of the actual burgers.

Ozersky is also guilty of lacking in any concise or compelling information. “The Hamburger” is all over the place and is missing a direct thesis. Arguments and informative areas are weak and the book reads like a college paper – a freshman college paper (I truly recall this style of writing even though it was more than a decade ago for me). Even older college students would pen a better work.

Similarly, Ozersky’s “The Hamburger” is not memorable and lacks any riveting presentation. Much of the text is repetitive and nothing truly sticks out (if a reader is asked to recall anything learned after closing the book, I will guarantee they won’t recall anything substantial).

“The Hamburger” is easily digested (no pun intended) and moves swiftly but Ozersky tries way too hard to pep up his prose with metaphors, similes, and literary language. It is just a bit over the top in context with the subject matter and again reflects the college paper-level status. “The Hamburger” is comparable to a blog article but one that doesn’t stand out.

The conclusion of “The Hamburger” is weak and abrupt lacking a true tie-in and therefore adds to the overall disappointment of “The Hamburger”. Ozersky does include a notes section (combined with sources) although this is not heartily annotated.

“The Hamburger” is a super fast (1-2 day) read but honestly: it is a waste of time even at that rate. The reader doesn’t truly come away with anything and Ozersky’s aim is lost. There isn’t much to be said about the text but that it can be skipped.

[Mihaela Sattler · Rating 2 out of 5]

Uhm I’m sorry, but no! Theoretically sounded like an interesting book…however it was like a hamburger that you left for two weeks on the grill, in the scorching sun, after a pigeon took a dump on it.

[Gwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was a relatively light/food history book. It focused on the differences between a sandwich with ground meat and an actual 'Hamburger.' I was disappointed in its overall history of the hamburger. I was expecting more "meat" in the conversation. Ozersky spends a lot of time discussing McDonald's (makes sense) but not enough on other burger chains. In addition, this book was recently published and yet devotes about 5 pages to the newer hamburger story. There was no mention of the hamburger cooking contests or newer re-invention or flavoring of hamburgers.

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny history and culture

[Desiree Koh · Rating 2 out of 5]

I could get traffic stopped by the food police for having a single unsavory thing to say about Josh Ozersky, but to my opinion I must be true.

This modern classic begins delightfully enough, tracing what Ozersky believes to be the hamburger's most authentic immigration into America and how it got big with the advent of post-World War II suburbization, automation, growth and automotization. He unleashes words and phrases to get drunk on - like "morphology" and "Babbittry" - but after several instances within less than two chapters, the novelty wears off quickly. Plus, there are more than just a few stumbles of awkward syntax, as if Ozersky was allowed to go gonzo and be as clever as he likes. (Who edited this manuscript?!)

Ok, but those are my personal issues. Although it's impossible to trace the growth of hamburger as American icon without delving into McDonald's, once we arrive at that stage in the burger's history, there is just too much dwelling on the corporatization of the burger. Even the burger wars are conveyed stale - I'm not here to read about the hamyburger's economic treatise, but its cultural zeitgeist. In fact, I much more enjoyed Andrew F. Smith's A Global History: Hamburger, which grills more concisely how it wove intrinsically into American culture, then took on the world.

This book was published in 2008, so unfortunately we'd never get an updated edition on the burger landscape now. There is a maneuver on the modern independent burger battles, especially at gourmet levels, but not a single mention on In-N-Out nor Shake Shack is irresponsible. Also, how about how the burger has various renditions across America, each iconic of its provenance in its own right?

The book lost me somewhere after McDonald's got successful, and perhaps because McDonald's is dull, Ozersky's writing never gets back to the pantheon on which it opens the book.

[xq · Rating 4 out of 5]

history AND food? nerdfoodie says yes!!

i really enjoyed this book, the author did an excellent job picking out interesting content and presenting it in an easy-to-follow, informative manner, weaving historical socioeconomics into the stories behind each of the big burger joints. sometimes the writing was a bit dramatic in that you wanted to be like, dude, this is a book about hamburgers, but it was kind of funny at the same time.

[Ronald Koltnow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Josh Ozersky is to be commended for his exhaustive research into the business of selling hamburgers, or hamburgs as they were originally called. HAMBURGER: A HISTORY traces most of the best-known origin stories of the meeting of ground beef on bun before settling down to discuss the big chains, especially McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's. He emphasizes the importance of White Castle, which had the know how to start a chain selling mass-produced 5-cent burgers, but who lacked the drive and marketing prowess of businessmen like Ray Kroc. There are many asides into topics like R. Crumb's underground comix, Marxist interpretations of the burger as symbol of American imperialism, and the origins of the myth of the 50s on television and in movies. Ozersky is great when discussing the origins of the businesses, but the social history is less successful, and sometimes intrusive. This is a short book, a microhistory if you will, and a reader wonders about the death of rival chains that are alluded to in the history. Burger Chef, for example, is now a part of the Hardee's empire, but that is not mentioned. Except for a few paragraphs about NYC chef's making expensive showcase burgers, there is no reference to other, more respected burger vendors who have always been with us. Also, Ozersky is something of a purist; to be a burger in his book, you must be on a bun. Meat on slices of bread don't cut it. Tell that to Louis's Lunch in New Haven.

[Luke Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decent enough book about the history and rise (and fall?) of the classic food item. It's brief and mostly focused on McDonald's of course. I've read Fast Food Nation, Super Size Me, and other similar food books and though I had hoped to find something new here, despite the unappealing cover, I didn't really. Kudos to the author for trying to stay judgement free as to weather hamburgers/ fast food are a good or bad social device though Mr Ozersky is not 100% successful.

Where the book mainly fails in my view is staying true to course. All this talk about hamburgers and not one quote from a rancher? Anything from the USDA? Nope. Though the restaurant from Happy Days maybe have a great effect on America culturally, leaving out things like growth hormones and why they are used, Mad Cow Disease and it's global blowback to American beef are not presented here. Nor do I think Mr Ozersky did accurate job of "following the money". This book would be much better if it marketed itself not as "A History" but as "A Cultural History" for that is what it truly is. I also could of done without all the overwrought word play at the beginning that is nowhere to be found later in.

[K De · Rating 4 out of 5]

Josh Ozersky's "The Hamburger: A History" is a short but filling social history of the humble hamburger. There is vignettes of White Castle system of standardization practice beginning which was quickly usurped by McDonalds and Ray Kroc and financial wizard Harry Sonneborne. Big Boy hamburger creation by Bob Wian is part of hamburger history in having not miniscule hamburgers but large and larger hamburgers as a key selling point. The is much social history invoked as the hamburger reigned supreme over American eating habits in the age of the car.

A good satisfying read.

[Brian Sweeney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love a good mirco-histroy, particularly one that doesn't get too lost in the weeds (I'm looking at you Salt).

The Hamburger: A History is exactly what it sounds like and delivers on the promise of the title. The history of the hamburger is traced alongside the history of America, while successfully making the argument that the hamburger is a truly American invention and in many ways a reflection of our culture.

I'm also proud to say that I read the last words of this book while myself eating a hamburger, and probably at 3 or 4 while reading the book over the course of the summer.

[Bryan Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Josh Ozersky, Esquire's late food editor, delivers a history of the hamburger, a symbol of American values. It's an essential read that gives context to such a ubiquitous menu item.

This has already been met with criticism but I look forward to doing a back to back to back sampling of McDonald's, Wendy's, and Burger King cheeseburgers.

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good short account of the hamburger as food and as an icon. He would have mentioned the Impossible Burger if it had been made yet, I’ll bet. Worth reading.

[Rogue Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Sizzle and symbolism" of the American hamburger. Mostly McDonalds, but not all.

[Nick Sanders · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting read on the history of the hamburger. Doesn't delve too deep, you can read it in a day or two.

[Mariarosa · Rating 2 out of 5]

picked this up from a little free library, so i wasn’t sure what i was expecting. while this book is somewhat entertaining, overall it is poorly edited and often intellectually lazy

[Mike Merrill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm working on reading every book about hamburgers and do far this is one of the best. It makes me want to read everything Josh Ozersky ever wrote.

[Ubiquitousbastard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this book held a lot of the same information and themes as Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal I actually preferred reading this. I think that there was less of an apparent agenda and I loved the obscure references, since I am a fan of obscure references. The sarcastic, dry tone was also fitting with my own taste in nonfiction where Schlosser was just a bit angry and kind of on a high horse about the whole thing. Yes, this was less gritty, but it was more cultural and in history, culture is much more my interest than the dark side of capitalism. And while there is quite a bit of negativity about the fast food industry, Ozersky gave me the impression that he was lamenting the industrialization of burgers partly because he was a fan of them done right. It might be something about the way he describes them that makes me believe that he knows a good burger when he sees one.

Overall, I think that this is a good supplement to other books about the fast food industry and industrialization in food, but is not quite thorough enough to really speak to newcomers to the topic. However, as just a plain history of the burger in America, it completely succeeds in telling the story in an interesting and accessible manner.

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

My review is going to be somewhat biased because the hamburger is, unequivocally, my favorite food. This book is a fascinating chronicle of the history of the world's greatest sandwich, but even moreso it provides insight into the historical, political, social, and cultural factors that have made the hamburger the iconic American food. In short, the hamburger IS America-- all of our virtues and vices served on an enriched bun. The burger has gone from trash food, to kids' food, to evil product of emotionless corporate empires, and now, in its latest incarnation, haute cuisine. Along the way, individuals such as the founders of White Castle, Ray Kroc, and Dave Thomas, have shaped not only the familiar beef patties, but much of where America has been, is, and will be going. Published in 2008, the book makes quick passing reference to the burger as gourmet food, so I would be interested in the author's take on the continuing trend of "craft burgers" in an amended or revised edition (as well as thoughts on the new kid on the block in the burger game, Five Guys). Otherwise, a compelling and quick narrative that will give the reader "food for thought" at his or her next meeting with a hamburger, whether through the drive-thru or around a picnic table and grill with friends and family.

[Jocelyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book isn't so much the history of the burger as it is so much the history of fast food restaurants. The first chapter does focus on the creation of the hamburger (which was not invented in Hamburg; it's an American invention), the defining feature being that of the bun. A meatball between two slices of bread does not a hamburger make. The rest of the book follows the history of White Castle, McDonald's, and other household names of burger driven restaurants.

The book has some fantastic lines. For example: "Once that ground patty of browned beef was laid on a bun, the hamburger shimmered into existence philosophically." Okay, that one in particular doesn't really make any sense but hey, it sounds good.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are many ways in which one could tell the story of the American hamburger. The perspectives of the historian, the anthropologist, the sociologist, the economist, the political scientist, the culinarian, and the environmentalist might well be employed. Josh Ozersky demonstrates fluency in all of these and writes a witty and entertaining story, as well. From White Castle ("buy 'em by the sack") to the fifty-dollar DB Royale of Daniel Boulud, the whole history is contained in this short (148 pp) volume. Ozersky challenges a great many myths about burgers which are firmly set in the American mind. Surely no one in American knows more about the hamburger than Josh Ozersky and he is kind enough to share in this addition to the Icons of America series from Yale University Press.

[Anthony]

A rather short, light book about hamburgers. While the info on McDonald's is pretty much old hat to anyone who has any interest in business stories, the story of the invention of the hamburger, of the rise of White Castle and Bob's Big Boy, and other tidbits in the book are not exactly common knowledge.

The author does spend a whole lot of time griping about standardization, without really seeming to acknowledge that it was the only way to provide the giant leap in the standard of living that it produced. Sure, McDonald's hamburgers and suburban tract houses may be boring and cookie-cutter, but it beats moldy bread and an unairconditioned 3rd floor walkup in the slums.

[Bookworm · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this more. I expected a little more in depth look at the hamburger, but this book came across as a Cliff Notes version. I was pretty disappointed.

It seems very superficial; a very basic look at how the hamburger came to be and its impact on the fast food industry and how it developed. I also thought the author would touch upon the other giants in the hamburger fast fast food industry--Burger King, Carl's Jr./Hardee's, etc. Or go into how the hamburger is made, although one can get that information in books like "Fast Food Nation."

The cover intrigued me and I had it in my wish list for a long time. I'd skip this one if you've read things like FFN.

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting look at the most iconic american food, the hamburger. A look at the burger ancestry, the mass production of hamburgers (thanks white castle), the perfection of mass production and franchising (thanks mcdonalds) and how our society came to love the burger. It was an interesting and quick read, however I found it a little silly when he uses words that an average person with a college degree needs a dictionary to understand.

also i love burgers so i probably rated this a little higher than i should.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can't beat a book about the history of the hamburger that has lines like:

"To admit ground beef on toast as a hamburger is to make the idea of a 'hamburger' so loose, so abstract, so semiotically promiscuous as to have no meaning." (p. 18)

My only problem with this book was the end. After going into much depth about the hamburger's stewardship of the fast food revolution, Ozersky slaps together the rest of the story. The hamburger renaissance as nouvelle cuisine in the form of monstrosities like Daniel Bouloud's foie gras and truffle burger deserve a chapter all their own.

[Art · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a fan of the humble hamburger, I saw this new book and just had to read it. The author explains how the hamburger was developed and how it become such a staple in the American diet. The author is pretty particular in defining a hamburger. At the minimum, a hamburger consists of a ground beef pattie AND a bun! A lot of fun Americana in this book: White Castle, Big Boy, McDonald's, etc. Some real characters were involved in the creation and development of the hamburger industry. The author also discusses the hamburger as an American cultural icon.

[Brad Seehawer · Rating 3 out of 5]

In typical Ozersky fashion, his assertion that the hamburger was invented when the beef patty was put between a bun was blindly opinionated and conveniently avoids contradictory historical claims about its origin... but I kind of agree with him. If we accept that a patty between two pieces of toast was a hamburger, then why wouldn't a Salisbury steak count as a proto-burger? Hamburgers need buns, and once you accept that, it makes sense to give the first hamburger to White Castle, as it easily dovetails into fast food production.

[Amy Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is interesting quick read. It is just the right length any longer and I think it would have become uninteresting. It gives an interesting overview of hamburger through time starting with the different claims of who created moving on to how the big chains got started. It talks about what it meant to American society and what good and bad innovations it has brought about with it. A very good read.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice, short (@133 pp of text)history of the burger and the chains that sell them. Ozersky tries to be a "cultural historian", but the more interesting facts of the burger chains takes over, thankfully. A lot of this is just a slimming down of more detailed works on McD's, White Castle, Burger King and Wendys.

Part of the excellent Yale U Press "Icons of America" series, the only one on food.

Nice quick read for foodies.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure what I expected when I picked this up, but it wasn't a short treatise on the history of fast food joints and corporate America. Some of the history of the big names like White Castle, Big Boy, McDonald's and Burger King was interesting, and enough to keep me going to the end (it's only about 100 pages of text), but outside of that environment, the book pretty much ignores (other than a couple of short passages) hamburgers in other settings.

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

This really doesn't qualify in my opinion as a history of the hamburger, so much as it is a history of Hamburger Fast Food Restaurants. The first chapter covers the early history of hamburgers, but after that the book delves lightly on the history of White Castle, Big Boy, McDonalds, and Wendy's. OK, if that is what you want, but I don't consider it hamburger history.