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'National Birth of the Burger Day' is Monday, Sept. 18

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Fri, Sep 15th 2017 07:35 pm
Monday, Sept. 18, has officially been designated as "National Birth of the Burger Day" by the Erie County Fair in Hamburg. The day will commemorate the invention of the hamburger sandwich by Frank and Charles Menches of Canton, Ohio, which took place during the 1885 Erie County Fair.
Why Sept. 18? Until the early 1920s, the Erie County Fair was held mid- to late-September, or as late as early October, as the event celebrated the agricultural harvest. The 1885 Erie County Fair, which saw the invention of the hamburger, was held Sept. 16-18, 1885.
Frank and Charles Menches were food vendors at the 1885 Erie County Fair, also known as the Hamburg Fair. Legend has it that, during the course of the fair, the Menches ran out of their signature menu item of pork sausage sandwiches. Their local supplier, Hamburg butcher Andrew Klein, was reluctant to butcher more hogs during a period of unseasonable late summer heat, and suggested to substitute the use of ground beef.
The brothers fired some up, but both found it dry and bland. They added coffee, brown sugar and other ingredients to create a unique taste. The original sandwiches were sold with just ketchup and sliced onions.
With newfound success with their beef sandwich, they christened it the "hamburger" after the Erie County Fair's home town of Hamburg, New York.

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