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