Christopher Carosa

Who sold the first hamburger ever? Backed by more than 300 historical footnotes, this account of the birth of the burger takes you on a journey down a delicious rabbit hole where you’ll discover the real hamburger history.

It’s the mystery behind something that has touched us all and will continue to touch generations into the future. It’s the mystery behind a trillion-dollar industry. It’s the mystery behind something so simple, so common, so obvious, that no one bothered to write it down. It is the birth of the world’s first hamburger.

Hamburger Dreams uses criminal inquiry techniques with the rigor of an academic researcher to expose the myths and separate the facts from the fiction surrounding the true story of who sold the first hamburger.

In this book, you’ll learn the real answers to:
Did the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis really inaugurate the “hamburg sandwich” as purportedly described in a New York Tribune article that same year and was said to be taught by McDonald’s famous Hamburger University?
Was the first hamburger served in 1900 at Louis Lunch, a diner in New Haven, Connecticut as reported by the New York Times and recognized as such by the Library of Congress?
Did Fletcher “Old Dave” Davis first place a ground beef patty on bread in "the late 1880's" as suggested by the Dallas Morning News?
If the hamburger really was first invented in 1885, either by Charles Nagreen at the Outagamie County Fair in Seymour, Wisconsin, or by Charles and Frank Menches at the Erie County Fair in Hamburg, New York, which fair occurred first?

Literature’s most famous detective appeared at the same time the first hamburger was sold. Would he have conceded just because the case lacked a credible eyewitness? Would he say it’s impossible to know who among the usual suspects most likely sold the first hamburger? No. Sherlock Holmes didn’t rely on the existence of a smoking gun. He used something more convincing: the power of deduction.

Award-winning academic researcher and journalist Christopher Carosa uses these classic crime solving techniques and other investigative tools to crack the mystery behind who sold the world’s first hamburger. In Hamburger Dreams, Carosa submits his findings in much the same way a DA might present a final summation to the jury.

If you like a compelling narrative, the suspense of a long-lost mystery, and the thrill of new evidence uncovered, then you’ll love Chris Carosa’s well researched case of the usual suspects (and more).