Posted by Adam Kuban, March 13, 2008 at 3:00 PM
I'm going to kill two birds with one stone with this post. First bird: I've been meaning to give a shout-out to the awesome blog Portland Hamburgers for a while now and don't know what's stopped me. It's a cool addition (though it's now been around since August 2007) to the burger-blogging scene. Sorry for sleepin' on the shout-out, PDX Burgers!
Photograph from Vintage Roadside
Second: Check out this cool photo that Portland Hamburgers dug up of a "family" of burger mascot people that happens to be sitting in the back yard of the folks who run Vintage Roadside—a Portland business that sells the ephemera of bygone roadside America. What an amazing collection to have! Could you imagine the total and ultimate cred this array would lend you while hosting grill-outs? Here's a link to a full set of "family" photos.
Posted by Adam Kuban, May 18, 2006 at 10:00 AM
Yesterday, we used a photograph of a farmer eating a burger at a cornhusking contest in Marshall County, Iowa, to illustrate an entry here. It's from the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Online Catalog. Below, we offer a look at other noteworthy burger photos we dug up from the available online collection.
Most of the photos here were taken by Russell Lee (right; 1903–1986), who was invited to join the federally funded Farm Security Administration as part of a team of photographers charged with documenting the plight of the rural poor during the Depression. (Esther Bubley, Jack Delano, and Arthur Rothstein, whose photos are also represented below, were members of the project as well.)
These photos are truly a fascinating scrapbook of hamburger—and American—history, and they're available for reproduction online at the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Reading Room (search the catalog for "hamburger"). Dig in!
Making hamburgers in concession stand, National Rice Festival, Crowley, Louisiana; October 1938; Russell Lee
Interior of hamburger stand. Waiting for customer, Alpine, Texas; May 1939; Russell Lee
Booth in hamburger stand, Alpine, Texas; May 1939; Russell Lee
Man in hamburger stand, Alpine, Texas; May 1939; Russell Lee
Little boy buying hamburger, state fair, Donaldsonville, Louisiana; November 1938; Russell Lee
Hamburger stand with old brands, Dumas, Texas; September 1939; Russell Lee
A hamburger shop in Durham, North Carolina; May 1940; Jack Delano
Hamburger stand and back of buildings on main street, Eufaula, Oklahoma; February 1940; Russell Lee
Hamburger stand, Harlingen, Texas; February 1939; Russell Lee
Hamburger stand. Imperial County Fair, California; March 1942; Russell Lee
Hamburger stand. Imperial County Fair, California; March 1942; Russell Lee
Blue Island, Illinois. After a movie, the Senise family drops in at a lunch counter for hamburgers; February 1943; Jack Delano
Washington, D.C. Walter Spangenberg and his date at the Hot Shoppe after the Woodrow Wilson High School regimental ball. She ordered a hamburger and milk, while he got a hamburger and a Coke; October 1943; Esther Bubley
At the hamburger stand on the Fourth of July, Vale, Oregon; July 1941; Russell Lee
White Tavern hamburger stand was the popular place in Amsterdam, New York; October 1941; John Collier
White Tavern hamburger stand was the popular place in Amsterdam, New York; October 1941; John Collier
Woodville, California. FSA (Farm Security Administration) farm workers' community. Migrant agricultural workers eating hamburgers at the Saturday night dance; January 1942; Russell Lee
Woodville, California. FSA (Farm Security Administration) farm workers' community. The women's club sells hamburgers at the Saturday night dances; January 1942; Russell Lee
Farmer eats hamburger at cornhusking contest, Marshall County, Iowa; November 1939; Arthur Rothstein
Posted by Adam Kuban, May 1, 2006 at 5:00 PM
AOL Cityguide has done it again. In late March, the good folks there brought you the best burgers in New York. Now they've compiled the "15 Burgers to Try Before You Die" (hmm ... strange echo of Alan Richman's piece in GQ last year, "The 20 Hamburgers You Must Eat Before You Die.") Without further ado, they are ...
- All-American Drive-In, Massapequa, New York
- Chris Madrid's, San Antonio
- CityGrille, Denver
- Dick's Drive-In, Seattle
- Goldyburgers, Chicago
- In-N-Out Burgers, Los Angeles [AHT's 2¢]
- Jack's Old Fashion Hamburger, Oakland Park, Florida
- O'Connell's Pub, Saint Louis
- Peter Luger, New York [AHT's 2¢]
- Roaring Fork, Phoenix
- Stanich's, Portland, Oregon
- Tessaro's, Pittsburgh
- Thurman Cafe, Columbus, Ohio
- Val's Burgers, San Francisco
- 96th Street Steakburgers, Indianapolis
15 Burgers to Try Before You Die [AOL Cityguide]
The 20 Hamburgers You Must Eat Before You Die [GQ]
Posted by Adam Kuban, July 5, 2005 at 1:40 PM
Hey ho, hamburger hermanos y hermanas! I hope your Fourth of July was a good one, that you didn't blow off any fingers, and that you had some tasty burgers at the cookouts you attended.
Speaking of grilling hamburgers over Independence Day weekend, did you know that's when Americans buy the most beef? That's what I heard on a broadcast yesterday afternoon on American Public Media's Marketplace show. Not surprising, eh? That factoid was in the intro to a very nice piece on Burgerville (listen here), a small 39-store chain in Washington and Oregon.
If you live in the Northwest, you know Burgerville does it right. Special items on the menu vary from month to month, according to what's in season. This month, for instance, Walla Walla onion rings and raspberry milkshakes and shortcakes are the thing. Chocolate-hazelnut* milkshakes were available earlier this year.
More important to this site, however, is Burgerville's beef. The meat for its burgers comes from Oregon cattle raised by sustainable methods, and it is always fresh–never frozen. Moreover, the small Vancouver, Washington–based chain has been using this meat in all its stores since February 2004. According to the Marketplace story, it only costs Burgerville 5¢ more per patty. And that's pretty cheap, considering that customers get healthier meat and that ranchers have further incentive to raise cattle in a more earth-friendly way.
Like In-N-Out, Burgerville is an exemplary model of what fast-food burgers can be but too often, sadly, aren't. Anyone within a short hop of Burgerville would be well-advised to take up temporary residence there as opposed to McDonaldland or the shoddily run realm of the Burger King.
A Nice Visit to Burgerville [Marketplace]
Photo by Polaricecap
* Or, as they call them in Oregon, "filberts."
