BURGER BOOM: NO LETUP IN BURGER PHENOMENON; MORE THAN 5 BILLION SERVED ANNUALY IN U.S. RESTAURANTS

Move over Wimpy, make way for Alan Peterson.

Wimpy, of course, is the Wimpy of the Popeye comic strip, created by Elzie Chrisler Segar at Chester, Ill., in 1931. The rotund Wimpy is famous for his fondness for hamburgers and the remark that "I will gladly pay you tomorrow for a hamburger today."

Peterson's name appears more recently in connection with hamburgers. He is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for his burger-eating feat of Feb. 8, 1979, when he put away 20 hamburgers, weighing 3 1/2 ounces each, for a total of four pounds of burgers, in a half-hour.

Burgers, so-named by Tartary Tribes from the Baltic Provinces of Russia in the Middle Ages, and introduced in the United States by German immigrants in the 1700s and 1800s, have their own month.

May is "National Burger Month."

With the return of warmer weather, May is a perfect time for people to heat up the grill for one of America's favorite foods.

"Burgers are the top-selling entree among non-commercial and commercial food services operations," said Kristin Allen, of the Missouri Beef Industry Council Inc., which is observing its annual "Beef Month" this month.

The beef industry, in its "Burger Boom" awareness promotion, has issued burger information on "everything you ever wanted to know burgers."

Burgers are for everyone's taste, from youngsters to the president of the United States.

President Bill Clinton can be counted among famous burger lovers. Clinton has been known to interrupt his famous jogs to make unscheduled burger stops for a burger dressed with melted jalapeno cheese, onion, lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise.

One of Clinton's home-state burger restaurants -- Buffalo Grill in Little Rock -- has been ranked among the "Top 25" burger spots in the United States. Buffalo Grill's cheeseburger has been voted the "Best Burger in Arkansas" over the past 10 years.

The late Elvis Presley, "King" of rock 'n' roll, liked his burgers cooked extra well-done, or to use his favorite word of endorsement, "burnt." When Elvis said "that's burnt man," he usually referred to either a good burger or a good performance.

Another burger lover is Ed Moose, a food celebrity and owner of Moose's in San Francisco, who says he learned to love burgers topped with New Orleans BBQ sauce in his hometown of St. Louis. And one St. Louis burger spot -- Blueberry Hill -- is famous for its "Hickory Burger," a St. Louis-style barbecue burger made with hickory flavoring.

And of course there's Wimpy, who loved his burger any way, as long as it was a burger.

Hamburgers and cheeseburgers comprise most of the beef servings away from home, 75.6 percent. People who eat burgers usually go out for one about three times every two weeks.

A total of 5 billion hamburgers/cheeseburgers were served in commercial restaurants last year.

The history of the burger is a simple one.

The Tartary Tribes from the Baltic Provinces of Russia "invented" the hamburger during the 13th century. Legend has it that as they pushed their way across Russia and Eastern Europe, it was their custom to place a filet under their saddle for safekeeping. By dinner time, the steak was tenderized and ready to serve, minced and uncooked.

Over the next century, German merchant sailors picked up on the eating of steak tartare -- chopped raw beef. Resourceful German chefs cooked the meat lightly with chopped onions, with the result a "Hamburg" steak.

The hamburger was introduced to the United States by German immigrants during the 1700s and 1800s. In 1896, Hamburg Steak made its appearance in Fannie Farmer's Boston Cooking-School Cookbook, and in 1904, the hamburger created a sensation when it was introduced at the World's Fair in St. Louis.

It wasn't until 1916 that the hamburger appeared on a hamburger bun, created by short-order cook J. Walter Anderson, who later became owner and creator of White Castle. Prior to 1916, the hamburgers were generally served between two slices of bread.

White Castle, which became the world's first hamburger chain in 1921, opened its first restaurant in Wichita, Kan., featuring square, baby burgers sold by the sack.

The first "cheese hamburger" was concocted by grill chef Lionel Sterberger at the Rite Spot Restaurant in Pasadena, Calif., in 1924.

The rest is hamburger history.

During the 1940s, the drive-in phenomenon took off everywhere. Families and teen-agers cruised for burgers. The first McDonald's opened in 1955, Other big burger chains followed -- Burger King, Wendy's, Hardee's, Sonic and Whataburger.

"Whataburger" was the first drive-in restaurant in Cairo, Ill., established about the time the Whataburger chain was being developed in Florida.

The "Whataburger," and what a burger it was, became an instant hit at its location just north of the giant railroad underpass on Route 51. The late John Klein, a meat cutter and dealer in the Cairo area, purchased the "Whataburger" name from Dale Meecham, who was instrumental in helping the Florida chain develop.

Whataburger drive-ins were also developed in Mounds and Eldorado. All are closed now.

McDonald's, which became an instant hit on the burger drive-in scene in the mid-1950s when it opened its first restaurant at Des Plaines, Ill., has grown to more than 15,000 restaurants in 84 countries. A new McDonald's opens every eight hours.

McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's cooked up about 60 percent of all the fast-food burgers sold a decade ago, and that percentage has increased to more than 75 percent.

Burgers are big in Cape Girardeau County, with no less than five McDonald's Restaurants and four Burger Kings -- the two largest burger drive-ins in the nation.

Cape Girardeau has five of the top 10 burger chains, including Wendy's, Hardee's Sonic Drive-In. Rounding out the top 10 burger chains are Jack in the Box, Carl's Jr., Whataburger, Rally's and White Castle.

The beef business is also good for Missouri farmers and ranchers. Missouri is the second leading state in the number of beef cows, 2.2 million, with annual sales of beef cattle and calves at almost $1 billion. Missouri has 62,000 beef cattle farms, with an average of 36 cattle per herd, said Steve Taylor of the Missouri Beef Industry Council in Jefferson City. The state has about 12 million acres of pastureland and 3.5 million acres of hay.

Every county in Southeast Missouri raises beef cattle, with about 25,000 of them in Cape Girardeau County.