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[Music]
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it's not quite officially summer but the
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Memorial Day Weekend represents the
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beginning of the summer season for many
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Americans and that means many things
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like backyard barbecues and ball games
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and both of those of course mean hot
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dogs according to the national hot dog
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and sausage Council and yes there's a
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national hot dog and sausage Council
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Americans will consume some 20 billion
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hot dogs this year roughly 70 each the
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history of the hot dog goes back a lot
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farther than you might think and how it
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becomes such an American icon with an
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almost disturbing number of regional
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varieties is intimately linked to
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American culture and history whether you
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like them boiled or grilled with chili
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or sauerkraut or mustard or blasphemy to
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some ketchup the history of the hot dog
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is a history of modern
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America sausage making the process where
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ground meat usually along with salt and
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spices is pressed into a casing
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traditionally animal intestine is an
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efficient means of preserving food
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especially scraps that otherwise might
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be hard to cook or serve sausages were
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preserved by various means cured dried
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or smoked although some are made without
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any method of preservation and would
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have been cooked or consumed immediately
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it's unclear when sausage was invented
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in his 2009 book hot dog a global
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history food historian Dr Bruce Craig
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notes that the first chopped or
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processed meat encased in gut was the
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ancestral sausage he argues that
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archaeological evidence suggest this
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kind of food dates as far back as the
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upper Paleolithic Era some 20,000 years
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ago sausages were certainly a part of
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culture in Antiquity a 1999 article in
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the journal Greek Roman and Byzantine
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studies called sausage and meat
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preservation in Antiquity remarks to
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Salt minced meat and fat and stuff it
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into casings was a convenient way to
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give leftovers some shelf life and also
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had the advantage of concealing from the
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squeamish exactly what the contents were
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a 1985 article in the journal biblical
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archaeologist notes that a brief
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satirical text reveals that the
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Mesopotamians knew how to fill
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intestines with a force meat of some
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kind prompting the authors to ask is it
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too much to credit these people with the
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earliest form of sausage if so then it
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isn't clear what kind of meat was used
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or how it was preserved but the text
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written in Kuno form suggests that some
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version of sausage was being produced as
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much as 5,000 years ago a Greek comedy
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written by epicus of C approximately
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2600 years ago called the Ora is
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sometimes literally translated as the
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sausage although the text of the play
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has been lost sausage is frequently
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referenced in Greek and Roman Works
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including in Homer's Odyssey in fact the
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atmology of the modern word sausage
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traces back to an archaic Latin word
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meaning seasoned with
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salt as to the nature of sausage in
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Antiquity Greek Roman and Byzantine
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study speculates from how sausage is
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discussed in Greek and Roman literature
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that we conclude that sausage must have
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been a cheap and common snack for the
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crowds coming and going into the City
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and that as from time Memorial sausages
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were made of the cheapest leftovers and
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were easy to adulterate they note that
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one text implied that the sausage maker
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mixes dog and Donkey meat into his
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sausages but the author also speculates
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that pork would have been the most
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common meat used and while sausage might
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have been a common food made from from
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the cheapest leftovers recipes are
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recorded in ancient texts that were
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intended as hot cuine for the wealthy a
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cookbook by the Roman Gourmet apicius
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which was thought to have been compiled
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around 500 AD included a recipe for
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brain sausage in the mortar put pepper
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Lage and origamy moisten with broth and
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rub add cooked brains and mix diligently
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until they're be no
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lumps sausage was a common food in
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medieval Europe for both high and low
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class and many recipes still exist
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sausages were most often but not
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exclusively made from pork and were a
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means of preserving meat through winter
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recipes for sausages are also found in
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this area in China some recipes
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Incorporated grains or fruits as well
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haggus presumed to have originated in
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Scotland although similar dishes were
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found elsewhere and back to ancient
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times combines cooked ground sheep heart
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lungs and liver with oatmeal and SE it
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and the traditional casing is a sheep's
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bladder in the Americas pkin is made of
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dried meat combined with fat and
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sometimes dried
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fruit in Europe German culture
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especially developed sausage a blog post
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on the website of E fresh meals explains
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that sausage was a means of survival for
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Germans during the winter months Germany
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was particularly suited to sausage
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making because it has mountainous
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regions where the drier Northern winds
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helped in the curing process moreover in
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warmer European countries food was more
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available so sausage making never became
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as popular by the 14th century recipes
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for bror started to appear in Germany
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although there's a disagreement whether
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the food originated in Franconia or Thia
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and some even argue it originated
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earlier with the kelt there are many
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Regional styles of bror which might be
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made with beef pork ve or a mix of any
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of the three bror tends to use coarsely
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ground meat and typically The Links of
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sausage are relatively thick and long
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thus brwz adds texture to meals and its
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size means that it is a significant part
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of a meal this contrast with the
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Frankfurter as the name implies the city
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of Frankfurt claims to have invented
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this type of sausage they date The
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Invention to the year 1487 and in 1987
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celebrated the 500th birthday of its
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introduction thus this traditional
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American dish was invented five years
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ahead of Columbus's discovery of the
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Americas however CNN noted in a July
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2020 story that hot dog historians
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argued that sausage culture native to
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Eastern Europe and particularly Germany
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has no specific town of
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origin frankfurters or weeners differ
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from bror they are smaller thinner and
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have a smoother skin than BR worst
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originally made from pork or pork and
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beef mixtures they're slow cooked or
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smoked and flavored usually with
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coriander whereas bror is coarse and
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adds texture the meat of a Frankfurter
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is more fely ground and the texture
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smooth Craig explains that these types
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of sausages came to the United States
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from immigrants in the mid and late 19th
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century he rejects the idea that the US
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hot dog life was tied however to a
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specific inventor or region rather he
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notes that several sausage Traditions
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have influenced the modern American hot
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dog sausage vendors could be found in
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places like markets and fair throughout
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Europe from the Middle Ages to the
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present naturally immigrants took their
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food traditions with them and it is
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these sausages particularly the German
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ones that became the American hot dog
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but notably Craig points out that the
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hot dog as it is known today is the
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result of processing technology that was
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developed during the 19th century
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becoming he says an emulsified food and
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thus he says the hot dog has a cultural
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and social history all its own the
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German tradition of selling sausages at
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public events like fairs and markets fit
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with the American culture in the city
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and and vendors began selling sausages
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from push carts wherever Germans
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immigrated such carts might have been
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around as early as the 1840s but Craig
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observed certainly by the
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1860s such carts became particularly
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popular in the bustling Streets of New
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York City CNN travel quotes Cony Island
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historian Michael Quinn the advantage of
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having a hot sausage on an elongated
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bond is a very New York thing New
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Yorkers like to walk and eat
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it was there that an entrepreneur named
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Charles Felman would help to popularize
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the Frankfurter sausage born in 1851
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feltman had immigrated to the United
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States in 1856 in 1867 he began
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operating a push cart wagon selling food
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to beachgoers at New York City's Coney
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Island according to a pamphlet on Coney
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Island food published in 1997 in 1867
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Charles feltman owned a pie wagon that
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delivered his freshly baked pies to the
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ends and logger beer cyons at line Coney
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Islands beaches his clients also wanted
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hot sandwiches to serve to their
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customers but his wagon was small and he
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knew it would be hard to manage making a
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variety of sandwiches in a confined
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space he thought that perhaps something
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simple like a hot sausage served on a
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roll might be the solution he presented
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his problem to Donovan the wheel r at
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East New York and Howard Street in
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Brooklyn who had built his pie wagon the
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man saw no problem in building a tinline
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chest to keep the rolls fresh and
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rigging a small charcoal stove inside to
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boil sausages their sausages and easily
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held bonds became very popular as New
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York historian Henry Collins Brown wrote
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in his 1928 book in the golden 90s it
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could be carried on the barch eaten on
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the Sands between baths consumed On a
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Carousel used as a baby's nipple to
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quiet an obstreperous infant and had
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other economic appeals to the summer
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pleasure Seeker eventually Felman built
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a restaurant complex that helped to
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popularize both the food and Coney
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Island as an entertainment area s in
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travel wrote in 2020 in 1875 Felman
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convinced president of the prosp ECT
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Park Railroad Andrew Culver to run the
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subway line down to Cony Island offering
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public transportation to thousands of
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New Yorkers who had never before had
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access to the far reaches of
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Brooklyn but it was actually a former
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employee turned competitor who would
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have the biggest influence on the
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connection between hot dogs and Cony
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Island Nathan handw worker was a Polish
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immigrant who worked for feltman as a
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bun slicer when he left to start his own
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business in 1916 he undersold Felman
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selling his sausages for 5 cents when
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feltman charged 10
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handw worker sausages became the more
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popular of the two and his restaurant
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Nathan's Famous became a Coney Island
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Landmark another important point in the
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history of the hot dog according to the
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national hot dog and sausage Council was
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during the year 1893 as the convenient
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and inexpensive food was sold at the
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world Colombian Exposition in Chicago
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where its popularity helped to establish
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it as a staple American food also in
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1893 Christopher Vander owner of the St
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Louis professional baseball team the
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brown stock
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started selling hot dogs at games in
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1982 Vander purchased the bankrupt team
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which had been rocked by a game fixing
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Scandal for just
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$1,800 a saloon owner he expected to
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earn his money back not just through
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ticket sales but from the sales of beer
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eventually he surrounded his ballpark
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with an amusement Park Racetrack and
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beer garden while it's difficult to
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document he is generally credited with
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being the first to sell Frankfurter
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sausages at baseball games founding the
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connection between America's iconic food
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and its iconic sport 1893 also
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represented another Watershed for the
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Convenient Food as that is according to
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Craig the first time the name hot dog
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was known to have been used in print to
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refer to the sausage the Knoxville
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Journal wrote even though werse men were
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preparing the hot dogs for sale Saturday
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night previously the food had gone by
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several names frankfurters wieners Red
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Hots Vienna sausages the connection to
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dogs had actually already been made as
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the long thin sausage bore a passing
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resemblance to the small German dog
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breed the doxent which have been
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imported to America nearly the same time
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and by the same immigrants as the
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sausages thus early on they were often
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called a doxen sausage there are
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numerous legends about how the food got
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its more popular name in one the name
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was supposedly coined by a sports
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cartoonist for the New York Journal
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named Tad dorgan according to the legend
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in 1901 he saw vendors selling docks and
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sausages at New York's polr Stadium he
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drew a cartoon depicting little dogs in
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bonds but unsure of how to spell docon
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he instead called them hot dogs over the
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story is doubtful Craig notes that the
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supposed comic has never been found and
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as the Knoxville Journal demonstrated
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the term was in use prior to the time
00:11:36
when that cartoon was supposed to have
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been drawn another Legend printed in a
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1924 edition of the Brooklyn standard
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Union suggests that the term was coined
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on Cony Island but in the 1600s when
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Island natives possibly iroy served
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Henry Hudson a traditional Feast of a
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cooked fat dog it's a pretty safe bet
00:11:55
the paper writes that at this Feast the
00:11:57
phrase hot dog was coined the story
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appears to be tongue and cheek but the
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paper did note that the hot dog of today
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is widely different than that of several
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hundred years ago instead of these
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explanations King contends that the name
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began around college campuses in the
00:12:11
1890s where vendor carts were commonly
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called dog stands it might have been
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partially derived from the resemblance
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to the doxin but following the American
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sense of humor the term hot dog also
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likely referenced the dubious provenance
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of the meat inside the casing the name
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did take some time however to become
00:12:28
universally accepted a 1923 edition of
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the Kansas City Star explains that when
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asked vendors of the treat objected
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preferring the name Frankfurter or Cony
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Islands the name hot dogs they
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complained was a gross liel on the
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Dependable cow and hog and on the
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Dependable sturdy
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Frankfurter another hot dog myth has to
00:12:46
do with the bond one popular story says
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that in 1904 a Bavarian concessionary
00:12:51
named Ain fager sold hot dogs at the St
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Louis Exposition he would give each
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person a white glove to hold the hot
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sausage but the gloves often were not
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returned thus he started selling them in
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convenient bonds which proved very
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popular again the myth simply doesn't
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meet reality sausages and bonds are
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being sold at Coney Island at least a
00:13:09
decade ahead of 1904 in fact Craig notes
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that Germans traditionally ate the
00:13:13
sausages on bread and that the tradition
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simply came along with the sausage while
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there are many legends about the
00:13:19
development of what is possibly
00:13:21
America's most iconic food food
00:13:23
historians tell us that hot dogs were
00:13:25
not the product of a single inventor or
00:13:27
entrepreneur but rather were were
00:13:29
brought here by immigrants from many
00:13:30
places became particularly popular in
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the bustling late 19th century and early
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20th century America because they were
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convenient and inexpensive because of
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industrial production over time hot dogs
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have developed several Regional styles
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from the familiar New York dog with
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mustard and sauerkraut or grilled onions
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to the Chicago style with fresh tomato
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pickles onions and relish the reason
00:13:54
fans of Chicago dog so uphor catchup is
00:13:57
that the tart flavors provided by the
00:13:58
fresh tomatoes and the sweet flavor from
00:14:00
the relish Detroit style dogs are served
00:14:02
with a beef chili in San Francisco are
00:14:05
wrapped in Smoky bacon in fact there are
00:14:07
nearly as many styles of hot dogs as
00:14:09
there are cities in which they are
00:14:11
served one persistent question about hot
00:14:14
dogs is the conundrum that hot dogs are
00:14:15
usually sold in packs of 10 while hot
00:14:17
dog buns are sold in packs of eight
00:14:20
California news station KSBY explains
00:14:22
that buns are usually baked in clusters
00:14:24
of four pans designed to hold eight
00:14:26
rolls while hot dogs are solding packs
00:14:28
of 10 because 10 hot dogs is roughly 1
00:14:31
pound despite their history of dubious
00:14:34
ingredients hot dogs in the US today are
00:14:35
regulated by the US Department of
00:14:37
Agriculture and the Food and Drug
00:14:38
Administration the type of protein used
00:14:40
must be clearly labeled while sausages
00:14:43
made with oal such as lips and cheeks
00:14:45
are still made those are usually made in
00:14:46
local shops such items will be labeled
00:14:48
as variety Meats whether boiled or
00:14:52
grilled there's a good chance that hot
00:14:53
dogs will be on your menu this summer
00:14:55
the hot dog and sausage Council
00:14:56
estimates that hot dogs are served in
00:14:58
70%
00:14:59
of American homes and the humble sausage
00:15:03
that is such a part of history is now
00:15:05
part of backyard barbecues and picnics
00:15:09
county fairs and nights at the Ballpark
00:15:12
all those moments of life that deserve
00:15:16
to be
00:15:17
remembered I hope you enjoyed this
00:15:19
episode of the history guy check out our
00:15:21
community on the history guy guild.
00:15:23
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00:15:25
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00:15:28
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00:15:30
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00:15:34
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[Music]
00:15:42
[Applause]
00:15:48
[Music]
