Beef Country lay far beyond the horizon behind us, but as we progressed through the Crossroads of America, hamburger dreams filled our heads. We thought it was just a craving for food. But it was more than that. It was much like the hunger of the hometown fans who crowded the bar under the massive television screen in the spacious hotel lobby, where we ate a late dinner.
We arrived at the Indianapolis Marriott East for our concluding night of vacation. Too tired to find a restaurant, we settled for the meager menu offered by the hotel itself. Only one other family made the same choice. For them, food was secondary. They, like the dozens of others, had their eyes glued to the TV. It was the last game of the NBA Finals. The hometown fans watched their beloved Indiana Pacers lose to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
It was a bitter loss. The Pacers, after winning three ABA titles in the early 1970s, have yet to win an NBA Finals title. In a way, Indiana fans have a hunger similar to that of Buffalo Bills fans. Like the Pacers, the Bills remain winless in Super Bowls, though they did win back-to-back AFL championships.
We’ve seen this same regional pride across America. In Beef Country, you might call it Continue Reading “From Beef Country To Hamburger Dreams”
Why Are Hamburgers The Fast Food King Instead Of Hot Dogs?
He points out, “Frankfurters are also easy to eat in the car and historically they were the food item most closely identified with the United States in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century… it’s clear from the lack of mammoth national hot-dog chains that even now there is something about the frank that doesn’t lend itself to the industry.”
Why are hamburgers and not hot dogs the more popular/sustainable fast food business model? This is all the more interesting because hot dogs arrived on the scene well before hamburgers.
Search newspaper archives from the mid-nineteenth century and you’ll see plenty of Continue Reading “Why Are Hamburgers The Fast Food King Instead Of Hot Dogs?”