July 19, 2023 – Hot Dogs

Happy National Hot Dog Day! Hot Dogs were brought to America by German immigrants in the 1800s. Multiple people claim to have invented the hot dog, each with slightly different innovations. Some say that German immigrants sold them from carts in New York City in the 1860s. Another story says that a German butcher began selling sausages in rolls from his stand in Coney Island. Hot dog buns made their debut at the Colombian Exposition in 1893.
In recent years, a hot debate has emerged about whether or not a hot dog is a sandwich. In 2017, the head of marketing for Oscar-Meyer asserted that hot dogs were indeed sandwiches. But then the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council fired back, declaring that they were unequivocally not a sandwich. Hot dog eating champions Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi agreed. Merriam-Webster has also weighed in. They say that by definition, a sandwich has two or more slices of bread or a split roll with a filling in between, thereby making a hot dog a sandwich.
Last year, Americans spend more than $8.3 billion on hot dogs and sausages at U.S. grocery stores. Residents of Los Angeles eat more hot dogs than any other city. And during peak hot dog season (which is right now), Americans typically consume 7 billion hot dogs. Learn more here.