My Turn: A 'burger biography' that spans the decades

This may sound bizarre, but lately I’ve been associating different periods in my life with the role hamburgers have played during that time. Stay with me on this! It’s really not that far-fetched considering how often people relate a particular song to a special moment. Simply substitute “hamburger” for “song” to understand my thinking. What it lacks in romance, it more than makes up for in appetite satisfaction.

My journey begins in 1965. That’s when our family chose to leave behind our Bronx roots in favor of the more spacious surroundings of suburban Melville. My first burger memory dates to those childhood days and the occasional Sunday afternoon after church. Our father would attempt to “surprise” my brother and me by driving to the nearest McDonald’s (back then it was miles away in Elwood). As we traveled east on Jericho Turnpike, my brother and I soon spotted the huge silos, statuesque in nature, looming from the nearby farm. We made a connection and the mystery was over.

“We’re going to McDonald’s!” we would shout, jumping up and down with great anticipation. I’d take great pride in boasting how I could consume three hamburgers. My brother took delight in stacking everyone’s pickles on his burger. Fun times!

Burger establishments were bountiful in our town in the late ’60s and early ’70s. They included: Wimpy’s, Wetson’s and Steer Inn. Our nearby Mr. B’s on Route 110 would soon be transformed into a McDonald’s, the setting for my first date. I scaled down my burger intake for that day from the usual three hamburgers to just one. Back then, you could purchase a hamburger, fries and a drink and still walk away with change from your dollar; a cheap date for a cheapskate, you might say.

During my high school days at Walt Whitman, the McDonald’s on Jericho Turnpike in Huntington was conveniently located on the opposite side of the often “student-modified” chain-link fence that separated the campus from the fast-food establishment’s parking lot. Leaving the grounds to grab a burger made you both a rebel and a truant and subject to placing yourself in hot pursuit by the school-security enforcers, who patrolled the area in their station wagon.

Moving on to college, I had an epiphany of sorts when I realized that upstate hamburgers were served with mustard on the inside of the bun. It was a condiment conversion that I found to be quite tasteful.

Upon graduating from college and entering the work world, I secured a position as a copywriter for WBLI radio, then in Medford. Once again, hamburgers had a significant influence in my life, as my copy chief Sandy emphasized that the key to writing a successful commercial was to “sell the sizzle!”

My burger recollections traveled full circle during the 1990s, when I recall bringing my young niece and nephews to McDonald’s after church. Happy Meals, with toys, were the choice for each, the childhood connection being how my brother Marty’s namesake, like his father, also enjoyed multiple pickles on his burger.

So here we are in 2020, and hamburgers are still a hot item. I haven’t yet digested the idea of a “meatless” hamburger. They have, however, served as the entree of choice for visitors to the White House. Hamburgers have even become part of our political discourse. As politicians debate the effects of climate change, we see one group showing concern about the impact of meat consumption on air quality due to the flatulence (as well as bovine belching) of cows, while the other side demands “I want my hamburger!” As we used to say during my early burger-consumption days: “What a gas!”

Jim Lauter,

Huntington