National Hot Dog Day 2020: The Hot Dog's Rise to American Icon Status

Whether you prefer your dog grilled or boiled, topped with mustard, ketchup, or chili, there's one thing we can all agree on – hot dogs have firmly embedded themselves in the American cultural fabric.

This year, hot dogs are hotter than ever; in March, IRI, a data analytics firm, reported that sales surged by up to 127%, even before the start of grilling season.

Billions of Hot Dogs

“Americans consume an estimated 7 billion hot dogs each year between Memorial Day and Labor Day,” stated Eric Mittenthal, president of the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council.

Although hot dogs may seem quintessentially American, their origins tell a different story.

Often called the frankfurter, this particular variety of sausage is believed to have originated in Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany. However, food historians contend that the sausage culture itself, rooted in Eastern Europe—especially Germany—has no clear single birthplace.

The original German hot dog that made its way to the United States was a mix of both pork and beef. The all-beef hot dog we know today traces its roots to Jewish-American butchers, who, adhering to kosher laws, avoided using pork in their meat mixtures.

“To understand where the Germans came from, you need to look at their origins,” said Dr. Bruce Kraig, emeritus professor at Roosevelt University in Chicago.

Kraig, a renowned hot dog historian, has written several books, including ‘Hot Dog: A Global History’ and ‘A Rich and Fertile Land: A History of Food in America.’

“Many of the early German immigrants came from the Palatinate region,” which surrounds the city of Frankfurt, explains Kraig. He adds that while Frankfurt is often cited as the place of origin, the food itself may not necessarily come from the city.

Brought to America by German immigrants in the mid-1800s, hot dogs made their way into the fabric of American culture through New York City street vendors, where they were an ideal meal for the busy New Yorker, already accustomed to eating on the go.

“Hot dogs first appeared with German immigrants in the late 1840s,” said Kraig.

“Germans have a rich sausage culture. They eat sausages from butcher shops, at home, in the streets at fairs and festivals, and in beer gardens. So when they arrived in America, they quickly established beer gardens,” Kraig explained.

Iconic street food

According to Kraig, Americans quickly embraced the German tradition of eating sausages on the streets. “There’s plenty of evidence of sausage vendors in the 1840s, and definitely by the 1860s. Wherever Germans settled, sausages were sold in the streets.”

The plural form is key here. Germany isn’t known for just one type of sausage, but for its wide variety, ranging from the veal- and poultry-based weisswurst to the pork bratwurst and the jerky-like landjäger.

With such a variety of sausages, it's surprising that Americans only adopted one into the mainstream food culture.

In 1867, Charles Feltman, an innovative baker from Brooklyn, started selling hot dogs from a converted pie cart on Coney Island. “Coney Island was becoming a destination for recreation, but there was very little there at the time,” said Michael Quinn, co-owner of Feltman’s of Coney Island, a hot dog brand he and his brother, Joe Quinn, acquired in 2015.

The birth of the bun

Charles Feltman invented the first elongated, hand-sliced bun, which laid the foundation for the modern hot dog bun we know today.

As demand grew — Michael Quinn, a Coney Island historian, shared that the cart sold around 4,000 hot dogs that first summer — Feltman expanded his vision, partnering with restaurants and hotels to open a large resort in Coney Island by 1873.

“Over time, it came to be known as the largest restaurant in the world,” said Michael Quinn.

Historical accounts, including the Coney Island History Project, confirm that by the 1920s, Feltman’s Ocean Pavilion was serving approximately five million guests annually, with hot dog sales reaching around 40,000 per day.

Suddenly, hot dogs were thrust into the national spotlight, and Coney Island became the go-to hub of summer entertainment for people across New York and beyond.

Coney Island

The expansion had already begun when, in 1875, Charles Feltman persuaded Andrew Culver, president of the Prospect Park Railroad, to extend the subway line to Coney Island, making it accessible to thousands of New Yorkers who previously had no way to reach Brooklyn’s farthest shores.

The connection between the subway line and Feltman’s grand resort helped elevate Coney Island’s importance, with hot dogs at the heart of this cultural shift.

Though Feltman’s empire eventually faded, and Coney Island became more famous for its quirky boardwalk rather than its upscale resort, Feltman had already unwittingly created the most iconic symbol of American hot dog culture by hiring a bun-slicer who would later become one of the nation’s most famous hot dog vendors.

“Back then, they didn’t have machines for slicing buns, so one of the bun-slicers hired by the Feltman family was Nathan Handwerker,” said Michael Quinn. “He worked as a bun-slicer at Feltman’s!”

Nathan Handwerker would go on to establish his own rival brand, Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs, in 1916, and it would soon become a symbol of Coney Island’s hot dog culture.

In many ways, Nathan’s hot dogs have come to symbolize the Fourth of July, the time when the famous Nathan’s Hot Dog-Eating Contest is held each year. Hot dogs have helped shape Coney Island’s identity.

“They became such a sensation that Charles Feltman eventually built a nearly century-long empire around them,” said Joe Quinn, co-owner of Feltman’s of Coney Island.

How do you like yours?

New York wasn’t the only place where hot dogs made their mark in the late 1800s. “As immigrants spread across the country, hot dogs followed,” explained Eric Mittenthal. “The Chicago-style dog, for example, emerged during the Great Depression, with vendors offering a variety of toppings, though Chicago isn’t the only city with its own signature hot dog style.”

Though the toppings vary by region, one thing remains constant: the affordability of hot dogs. They are a cheap, satisfying meal no matter where you are, making them accessible to anyone, regardless of location. (Even vegetarians and vegans can now enjoy a hot dog — thanks to meat-free options like Beyond Meat and other plant-based brands.)

German immigrants carried their passion for sausages to various U.S. cities, including Detroit, Milwaukee, and later Los Angeles.

Wherever Germans settled, hot dogs weren’t far behind. While New Yorkers proudly claim that the hot dog, a perfect on-the-go meal, was especially suited for their fast-paced city, the link remains undeniable even more than a century later.

“The brilliance of a hot sausage in a long bun — that’s quintessentially New York,” said Michael Quinn. “New Yorkers are always on the move and love to eat while walking.”

As for the name, hot dogs were originally referred to as “red hots,” a term still used in places like Maine and Detroit. This was due to the heat from the grill used to cook them. The “dog” part, however, was more of a playful term. “Hot dog is just a humorous name,” said Kraig.

The earliest recorded use of the term dates back to 1892, in a newspaper article from Patterson, New Jersey. “The association of sausages with dogs, however, goes back much further,” Kraig acknowledged.

Kraig mentions a popular 1800s song by Septimus Winner titled ‘Where, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone?’, which is said to reference the curious idea of a dog gone missing in sausage meat. Luckily, in today’s world of transparency, we know that the hot dogs we enjoy — 7 billion this summer alone — contain no dogs.

That’s a comfort for those planning to enjoy National Hot Dog Month in July. Time to grab the mustard and dig in.