Seymour, Wisconsin

The Seymour story has Charlie Nagreen serving the world's first hamburger at the Seymour Fair of 1885, some five months before the Hamburg claim. "Hamburger" Charlie supposedly decided to flatten a meatball and place it between slices of bread. Speaking to the Appleton (WI) Post Crescent in 1947, Nagreen claims to have originated the use of the word also. The program printed for the "Home of the Hamburger Celebration" in 1989 contained a reprinted account of the first Seymour Fair in 1885 and there was no mention Nagreen's invention (Anon. 1989).

It is clear from the Seymour story, however, that Charlie Nagreen did continue to make hamburgers and was rather well known on the local fair circuit until he was eighty years old. He was a busy entrepeneur; his daughter said he also peddled Christmas trees, party costumes, popcorn, fireworks and ice cream and also played in Nagreen's Orchestra. The descriptions of Nagreen written by people who knew him all spoke of his flair for promotion. "Hamburger Charlie" passed away in 1951 still claiming to be the first inventor of the hamburger.

Seymour has the most elaborate celebration and infrastructure of hamburger history in the Hamburger Hall of Fame (they plan to build a hamburger-shaped building) and an annual one day Burger Fest. In 1989 the world's largest hamburger (5,520 pounds) was served at the festival. There have been no challenges to the record so the annual big burger now is only around 1,000 pounds. This festival also has several competiive events around hamburgers - the hamburger relay and the ketchup slide.

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