page_title: Hamburger
section_title: Early major vendors
hierarchical_section_title: Hamburger / History / Early major vendors
caption_attribution_description: English: A McDonald's Big Mac hamburger, as bought in the United States. Deutsch: Ein Big-Mac-Burger von McDonald's, gekauft in den Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika. Français&#160;: Un hamburger Big Mac de la chaîne de restauration américaine McDonald's. Polski: Hamburger Big Mac z restauracji McDonald's, w wersji sprzedawanej w Stanach Zjednoczonych. Русский: «Биг-Мак» (Big Mac)&#160;— гамбургер, предлагаемый компанией McDonald’s в своих предприятиях. Он является одним из наиболее известных продуктов компании в мире. Tiếng Việt: Big Mac, một loại bánh Hamburger hai tầng, thường được bày bán tại các quán ăn nhanh thuộc hệ thống McDonald's.
context_page_description: A hamburger is a sandwich consisting of one or more cooked patties of ground meat, usually beef, placed inside a sliced bread roll or bun. The patty may be pan fried, grilled, smoked or flame broiled. Hamburgers are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon, or chiles; condiments such as ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, relish, or a "special sauce", often a variation of Thousand Island dressing; and are frequently placed on sesame seed buns. A hamburger topped with cheese is called a cheeseburger.
  The term "burger" can also be applied to the meat patty on its own, especially in the United Kingdom, where the term "patty" is rarely used, or the term can even refer simply to ground beef. Since the term hamburger usually implies beef, for clarity "burger" may be prefixed with the type of meat or meat substitute used, as in beef burger, turkey burger, bison burger, or veggie burger.
  Hamburgers are sold at fast-food restaurants, diners, and specialty and high-end restaurants. There are many international and regional variations of the hamburger.
context_section_description: 1921: White Castle, Wichita, Kansas. Due to widely anti-German sentiment in the U.S. during World War I, an alternative name for hamburgers was Salisbury steak. Following the war, hamburgers became unpopular until the White Castle restaurant chain marketed and sold large numbers of small 2.5-inch square hamburgers, known as sliders. They started to create five holes in each patty, which help them cook evenly and eliminate the need to flip the burger. In 1995 White Castle began selling frozen hamburgers in convenience stores and vending machines.
  1923: Kewpee Hamburgers, or Kewpee Hotels, Flint, Michigan. Kewpee was the second hamburger chain and peaked at 400 locations before World War II. Many of these were licensed but not strictly franchised. Many closed during WWII. Between 1955 and 1967, another wave closed or caused changes of name. In 1967 the Kewpee licensor moved the company to a franchise system. Currently only five locations exist.
  1926: White Tower Hamburgers
  1927: Little Tavern
  1930s: White Castle (II; run by Henry Cassada)
  1931: Krystal (restaurant)
  1936: Big Boy. In 1937, Bob Wian created the double deck hamburger at his hamburger stand in Glendale California. Big Boy would become the name of the hamburger, the mascot and the restaurants. Big Boy expanded nationally through regional franchising and subfranchising. Primarily operating as drive-in restaurants in the 1950s, interior dining gradually replaced curb service by the early 1970s. Many franchises have closed or operate independently, but at the remaining American restaurants, the Big Boy double deck hamburger remains the signature item.
  1940: McDonald's restaurant, San Bernardino, California, was opened by Richard and Maurice McDonald. Their introduction of the "Speedee Service System" in 1948 established the principles of the modern fast-food restaurant. The McDonald brothers began franchising in 1953. In 1961, Ray Kroc (the supplier of their multi-mixer milkshake machines) purchased the company from the brothers for $2.7 million and a 1.9% royalty.
caption: McDonald's Big Mac
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