Hamburger with mustard and without ketchup (Cowboy Burger; Texas Burger)

Texans traditionally eat hamburgers with mustard or with mayonnaise (or with both), but without ketchup. This is simply called a “hamburger” in Texas, but is sometimes called a “Cowboy Burger” or a “Texas Burger” outside of Texas.
 
A hamburger with ketchup is sometimes called a “Yankee Burger.” A hamburger with mayonnaise is sometimes called a “Sissy Burger.”
 
Dirty Martin’s (in Austin since 1926) serves hamburgers with mustard, pickles, onions, and tomatoes. The popular Texas “Whataburger” hamburger chain has served hamburgers with mustard from its founding (1950). The hamburger-with-mustard combination in Texas is attested at least from the 1920s, as The Daily Texan (Austin, TX) University of Texas student newspaper described on December 7, 1927:
 
“Students like to sit on the high stools and watch the skillful cook flap the hamburgers over and over, slap mustard on the buns, put pickles and tomatoes on top of the sizzling meat, and dexteriously wrap the finished hamburger in a paper napkin.”
   
   
What is a Whataburger?
FIVE-INCH BUN
FAMOUS MUSTARD
FRESH LETTUCE
THREE TOMATOES
FOUR PICKLES
DICED ONIONS
100% PURE AMERICAN BEEF
   
austin360.com
Dirty Martin’s Place
2808 Guadalupe Street
Austin, TX 78705
Phone: (512) 477-3173
Cuisine:  American Hamburgers
 
Despite a moniker that should send diners in another direction, Dirty Martin’s Place has survived (and thrived) for nearly 75 years. In fact, the home of “Kum-Bak” burgers has been standing on The Drag longer than the majority of buildings on the nearby University of Texas campus.
 
Food: What’s the attraction? The burgers, of course, and the prices; a basic hamburger with mustard, pickle, onion and tomato is $2.25. (Not to mention an atmosphere that is as anti-trendy as can be found in proximity to UT.)
   
Lone Star Fajita Grill (Buffalo, NY)
BURGERS
One third pound of fresh ground chopped sirloin, charbroiled to order and served on a toasted roll.
Yankee Burger
Ketchup, mustard, onion, pickles w/cheddar cheese ... 3.00
Lone Star Burger
Mustard, onion, pickles, tomato, lettuce & cheddar cheese ... 3.25
   
Big Bun Hamburgers (El Paso, TX)
1. Hamburger Tomatoes, Pickles, Onions & Mayo 2.49  
2. Cheese Burger Tomatoes, Pickles, Onions & Mayo 2.79
3. Texas Burger 2 Patties, Tomatoes, Pickles, Onions & Mayo 3.29
 
27 September 1917, The Statesman (Austin, TX), “The Sandwich,” pg. 4, col. 1:
The “Hamburger” belongs to the street stands, where it is prepared with a kind of mustard rarely met elsewhere.
 
7 December 1927, The Daily Texan (Austin, TX), “Eat Shops Lure Hungry Students Day and Night” by Madeline Jaffe, pg. 5, col. 4:
Students like to sit on the high stools and watch the skillful cook flap the hamburgers over and over, slap mustard on the buns, put pickles and tomatoes on top of the sizzling meat, and dexteriously wrap the finished hamburger in a paper napkin.
 
11 July 1947, Mason City (Iowa) Globe-Gazette, pg. 4, col. 6 ad:
Delicious Hamburger on Butter Toasted Bun With Mustard and Onions 15c
(Bolero restaurant—ed.) 
 
15 January 1949, European Stars and Stripes (Darmstadt, Germany), “Report from America” by Dave Karten (Sumter, S.C.), pg. 6A:
In the local Kress five-and-dime store we ran into 20-year-old Ingrid Mueller, who had arrived in the Gamecock City last September as a war bride. (...) Her sweet Southern drawl had only the slightest Berlin accent and in less time than it takes to tell she had mastered the intricacies of such hash-slinger slang idiom of “all the way” (a hamburger with mustard, French fries, pickle, lettuce, tomatoes, onions and some meat).
   
25 May 1950, San Antonio (TX) Light, pg. 15A, cols. 5-6:
Cavalier claims one of the best 15-cent hamburgers available anywhere. These are made from U. S. government inspected beef with onions, pickles and mustard for added flavor and spice.
   
22 August 1953, Corpus Christi (TX) Times, pg. 6, col. 1 ad:
Just like last week’s Hamburgers 1/5 lb. good grade grocery store ground beef, served with crisp lettuce, delicious sliced tomatoes, onion, pickles & mustard on a big toasted bun—A complete meal.
Corral Drive-In
   
26 September 1955, Waco (TX) News-Tribune, pg. 14, col. 6 ad:
WHATABURGER
With Lettuce, Tomatoes, Pickles, Onions, Mustard or Mayonnaise
AND MALT
Both for 50c
“Ask Anyone”
       
20 August 1971, Amarillo (TX) Globe-Times, pg. 22, col. 2 ad:
HAMBURGERS
4 for $1
Complete with Lettuce, Tomato, Onion, Pickle and Mustard.
(Wolflin Drive Inn—ed.) 
 
27 June 1979, New York (NY) Times, “Dixie in New York: The Flavor of Home” by Roy B. Hoffman, pg. C18:
For the taste of home, Miss Parker prefers Jackson Hole, Wyoming, 1633 Second Avenue at the corner of 85th Street, and Jackson Hole Burger Shop, 232 East 64th Street, “where the hamburgers are steamed and served with mustard and mayonnaise, like they are in Texas.”
   
5 August 1986, Seguin (TX) Gazette Enterprise, “Burgers are an inexpensive way to please at parties,” pg. 5, cols. 1-2:
Then there’s always the Truly Texas Burger, the classic lettuce, meat, sliced tomato and raw onion version on a soft white bun liberally spread with yellow mustard and mayonnaise. The Truly Texas is such an established favorite, it shows up frequently in backyards all over the state.
     
12 February 1988, The Brazosport Facts (Clute, TX), pg. 16, col. 3 ad:
BIG TEXAS BURGER
1/4 LB. ALL BEEF WITH MUSTARD, ONIONS, PICKLES, LETTUCE & TOMATO
$1.49
(Red Top restaurant—ed.) 
 
25 June 1995, Dallas (TX) Morning News:
It tasted like the perfect marriage of an old-fashioned, heavy-on-the-mustard Texas burger and these newfangled chicken sandwiches.
         
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From: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (Nancy Dooley)
Date: 1996/07/02
Subject: Re: DINNER ON THE 4th JULY - Suggestions wanted.
 
>From: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (Sam Waring)
>Date: 01 Jul 96 23:02:59
>Subject: DINNER ON THE 4th JULY - Suggestions wanted.
>and sending it all back, then.  I’m inclined to believe that mayo on
>burgers was more a Southern sorta custom than anything else; burgers with
>ketchup on them, or ones missing the complement of lettuce-tomato-onion-
>pickle, or both, were “Yankee burgers” in my childhood lexicon.
 
But now that you’re growed up, don’t you put ketchup on your burgers just like those “Yankee burgers?”  😉
 
I’m one of those mustard-pickle-onion folk (no ketchup allowed).  And for more elaborate burgers, they’ve got to have tomato, lettuce and cheese.
   
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From: “Holly C.”
Date: 1998/08/13
Subject: Re: McDonald’s fries
   
In some Texas locations, we can get the Texas-style hamburger (mustard and pickles, no ketchup).  We also have Cajun-style McChicken sandwiches, which are pretty good. 
     
New York (NY) Times
The Pride of Texas on a Bun
By WILLIAM GRIMES
Published: October 28, 1998
(...)
’‘The biggest shock of my life was in New York, where they served me a hamburger with no lettuce and tomato,’’ said Ann Criswell, the longtime food editor of The Houston Chronicle and a third-generation Texan. ‘‘I thought that was so’’—she searched for the right word and settled on ‘‘primitive.’’
 
Texans love beef, and when they order a hamburger, they expect to see a lot of it on their plate—freshly ground, cooked right and tasting like meat, not soybeans. Cooked right—and this is the key to the Texas burger—means seared on a grill until it gets crisp on the outside while remaining juicy inside, even if the patty is extra thin, a popular Texas style. Thick or thin, the burger must be served on a bun that’s toasted until the perimeter gets a nice crunch to it, and then piled high with lettuce, sliced tomatoes, pickles and raw onions. Mustard and mayonnaise go on the bun, but never ketchup.
   
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From: “Jeff Wheeler”
Date: 1999/01/08
Subject: Re: Mustard on a Hamgurger?
   
Well yes..mustard on hamburgers is totally normal. In fact where I was raised if you wanted mayonnaise on a hamburger you was forced to order what was called a “Sissy Burger”. Ketchup was never standard on any kind of sandwich..burger etc. Was only used for fried potatoes.
 
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From: Bob
Date: 1999/07/13
Subject: Re: A Chocolate Malt
   
No, we “pure bred” Texans couldn’t eat a hamburger without mustard.  No ketchup either unless you’re at McDonalds.  Mayo makes what we call a “sissy burger.” 
   
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From: “Jeff Edwards”