104 AUGUST 2020
BACKSTORYHOT DOGS LOOK DIFFERENT ALL OVER THE COUNTRY, with regional riffs in places
like Chicago and Tucson, but New York City is considered the port of entry for
the hot dog as we know it. In the late 19th century, Charles Feltman, a German
immigrant, sold frankfurters from a stand on Coney Island, ultimately giving
way to the dirty-water dog. NYC’s street dog may seem unclean as it floats in a
vat of cloudy liquid, but that saltwater bath, often flavored with onion and red
pepper, plumps up its dogs with personality and undeniable juiciness. The
average American eats about 70 hot dogs per year, but NYC locals and tourists
may help inflate that average, hunched over yellow carts to knock back
dirty-water dogs whenever the opportunity presents itself. —MARIA YAGODAWiener Takes AllDOG YEARSFrances E. Coffey
designs the first
independent hot
dog cart with a
cooking plate, a
steam table, and
an icebox.1926Nathan Hand-
werker, a Polish
immigrant,
founds Nathan’s
Famous on Coney
Island, selling hot
dogs for a nickel.1916Hot dogs are
sold out of “dog
wagons” outside
student dormi-
tories at Yale
University.1894Charles Feltman
opens the first
hot dog stand on
Coney Island.1871German immi-
grants in NYC sell
frankfurters with
milk rolls and
sauerkraut out of
pushcarts on the
Bower y.1860 sPresident Franklin
Roosevelt serves
hot dogs and beer
to King George VI
and Queen
Elizabeth, the
Queen Mother.1939The National Hot
Dog and Sausage
Council is estab-
lished by the
American Meat
Institute.1994The question “Is
a hot dog a sand-
wich?” ignites a
national internet
debate.2015Competitive
eater Joey Chest-
nut set a new
record for eating
74 hot dogs
(including buns!)
in 10 minutes.2018BY THE NUMBERSOriginal cost of a hot dog at
5¢ Nathan’s Famous on Coney Island $92.1 MILLIONAmount that New Yorkers spent
on hot dogs in retail stores in 2019818Hot dogs eaten per second in the
20 BILLION U.S. from Memorial Day to Labor DayEstimated number of hot dogs con-
sumed each year in the United StatesA street vendor selling
“red hot frankfurters
and ice cold lemonade”
stands next to his cart in
lower Manhattan, 1936PHOTOGRAPHY:^
HUM^
IMAGES/ALAMY