The hot dog, a quintessential American food, sparks curiosity about its unusual name. Why, indeed, is a frankfurter, a type of sausage, called a “hot dog”? The answer lies in a fascinating journey through culinary history, German immigration, and a dash of playful American slang.
From Frankfurt to America: The Sausage’s Voyage
The story begins in Europe, specifically in Germany. Frankfurt-am-Main, a German city, proudly stakes its claim as the birthplace of the frankfurter. In fact, Frankfurt celebrated the 500th anniversary of the frankfurter back in 1987, marking its supposed origin in 1487. This predates Columbus’s voyage to America by five years!
Vienna, Austria, also enters the fray with its “wiener,” another term for a similar sausage. It’s highly probable that the American hot dog isn’t solely from Frankfurt or Vienna, but rather evolved from a common European sausage tradition brought to America by butchers from various European nations. These sausages, often referred to as “dachshund sausages” or “little-dog sausages” due to their long, thin shape resembling dachshund dogs, were already popular in Germany. One account credits Johann Georghehner, a butcher from Coburg, Germany, in the late 1600s, as a possible creator of this dachshund sausage, who then promoted it in Frankfurt.
The Bun and Baseball Parks: Hot Dog’s American Rise
While the sausage itself has European roots, the hot dog as we know it – sausage nestled in a bun – took shape in America. The question of who first served a dachshund sausage in a roll is debated. One story suggests a German immigrant in New York City’s Bowery sold them from a pushcart in the 1860s, accompanied by milk rolls and sauerkraut. Charles Feltman, a German baker, further popularized this in 1871 when he opened the first Coney Island hot dog stand. In his first year, he reportedly sold over 3,600 “dachshund sausages” in milk rolls.
1893 proved to be a pivotal year for hot dog history. The Colombian Exposition in Chicago attracted massive crowds, and vendors sold countless sausages, a convenient and affordable food. This era also saw sausages become a staple at baseball parks. Chris Von de Ahe, a German immigrant bar owner who also owned the St. Louis Browns baseball team, is often credited with initiating this tradition.
The invention of the hot dog bun itself is another point of contention. A popular, though debated, story attributes it to Anton Feuchtwanger, a Bavarian concessionaire at the 1904 St. Louis “Louisiana Purchase Exposition.” Supposedly, to avoid losing white gloves loaned to customers to hold hot sausages, Feuchtwanger asked his baker brother-in-law to create long rolls – thus, the hot dog bun was born. However, many historians believe the practice of serving these sausages in bread was a gradual adoption from German immigrant culture.
Unraveling the “Hot Dog” Moniker
The origin of the term “hot dog” is as debated as the bun’s invention. The popular tale involves a cartoonist, Tad Dorgan, at the New York Polo Grounds in 1901. Vendors were supposedly yelling, “Get your dachshund sausages while they’re red hot!” Dorgan, witnessing this, supposedly drew a cartoon of dachshund sausages in rolls, labeling it “hot dog” because he couldn’t spell “dachshund.” This cartoon supposedly went viral and coined the term.
However, hot dog historians have found no evidence of this cartoon despite Dorgan’s extensive work. Bruce Kraig, a hot dog historian, and others point to earlier uses of “hot dog” in college magazines in the 1890s. Yale University students in 1894 were using “dog wagons” to refer to carts selling hot dogs outside dorms. The term “hot dog” likely emerged as a playful, slightly sarcastic reference to the questionable meat source, jokingly linking the sausages to “dog” meat.
The connection to dachshund sausages further solidified the name. Germans themselves called frankfurters “dachshund sausages” or “little-dog sausages.” Therefore, “hot dog” most likely originated as a humorous nickname, playing on the German sausage’s name and the long, thin shape reminiscent of dachshund dogs, eventually becoming the widely accepted term for this beloved American food.
Conclusion: A Name Steeped in History and Humor
So, “Why Is A Frankfurter Called A Hot Dog?” The answer is a delicious blend of historical evolution and linguistic playfulness. Frankfurters, or dachshund sausages, with their German origins, were brought to America and popularized in buns. The name “hot dog” emerged not from a single event, but gradually, likely as a joke referencing both the “dachshund sausage” name and the somewhat mysterious content of the sausages themselves. While the precise details remain debated, the moniker “hot dog” stuck, becoming an iconic and enduring part of American culinary culture, proving that sometimes the most intriguing stories are hidden within the simplest of foods.
