80R583 MMS-D
 
  By: Brown of Kaufman H.C.R. No. 15
 
 
 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
         WHEREAS, Athens, Texas, boasts a strong claim to being the
  original home of one of the nation's favorite foods, the hamburger;
  and
         WHEREAS, Although accounts differ as to the origins of this
  American classic, the staff at McDonald's management training
  center has traced its beginnings back to the 1904 St. Louis World's
  Fair, where it was sold by a vendor on the midway; a reporter for the
  New York Tribune, writing about the fair, made note of the new
  sandwich in an article and commented that it was the vendor's own
  creation; and
         WHEREAS, The vendor, Fletcher Davis, had moved from Missouri
  to Athens in the 1880s to take a job at the Miller pottery works;
  Mr. Davis had a flair for preparing food and usually served as chef
  at his employer's picnics; when the business slowed down in the late
  1800s, he opened a lunch counter on the courthouse square, where he
  sold the sandwich that would become such a staple of the U.S. diet;
  and
         WHEREAS, Although it was served with slices of fresh-baked
  bread instead of a bun, this early version of the hamburger was then
  much like it is today and contained ground beef, ground mustard
  mixed with mayonnaise, a large slice of Bermuda onion, and sliced
  cucumber pickles; customers could also enjoy fried potatoes, served
  with a thick tomato sauce; when the journalist from the Tribune was
  told that Mr. Davis had learned to fix potatoes in that manner from
  a friend in Paris, Texas, he misunderstood and described the item to
  his readers as french-fried potatoes; and
         WHEREAS, According to a nephew of Mr. Davis's, the new
  sandwich acquired its name during the potter's sojourn in
  St. Louis; one theory holds that local residents of German descent
  may have named the sandwich after the city of Hamburg, whose
  citizens had a special affinity for ground meat; each June,
  residents of Athens celebrate the hamburger's origins in their
  community with Uncle Fletch's Burger and Bar-B-Q Cook-Off; and
         WHEREAS, A century after the hamburger debuted on the
  national stage, it has become one of the best-loved foods in
  America; its economic impact is no less evident than its
  popularity: the immense volume of the burger business helps to
  drive the beef and grain industries and supports the employment of a
  substantial workforce; and
         WHEREAS, The connection between Athens, Fletcher Davis, and
  the famed hamburger of the St. Louis World's Fair has been well
  documented, and it is fitting that the town's role in the history of
  that all-American sandwich be appropriately recognized; now,
  therefore, be it
         RESOLVED, That the 80th Legislature of the State of Texas
  hereby formally designate Athens, Texas, as the Original Home of
  the Hamburger.