How did hot dogs develop into a popular food

Summer, in many people's minds, is a time of barbecues and picnics. One common food in this is the hot dog, which is often grilled and served in a bun. The history of the hot dog goes to ancient periods, when sausages developed as a popular food. Modern hot dogs are a result of efficient use of meat remains after the processing of meat products. The history of the hot dog is often seen or attributed to German origins but even here there is dispute about this.

Early Origins

The traditional origin of the hot dog lies with the so-called Frankfurt sausage, or frankfurter, which was a sausage developed in Frankfurt-am-Main in Germany. This was supposedly around 1487, when this type of sausage of packaged or processed meat was developed. However, Vienna disputes Frankfurt's claims, as the term "wiener" is often used to refer to sausages or hot dogs. The term derives from the German name for the city (Wien).

While these traditions often point to a Medieval origin to sausages, we know in reality that sausages likely go back further in time. In Homer's Odyssey, a type of sausage or processed meat is mentioned. In fact, as early as ancient Sumeria and Mesopotamia, animal intestines were mentioned to be stuffed with meat as a type of cuisine. It is very likely sausages developed as separate innovations in varying cultures. One problem for past societies that would have likely led them to develop is the problem of having to preserve meat. Sausages would be ideal because they could be encased and then smoked or dried. It allows meat to be easily stored while with some protective outer covering. Most likely, animal intestines would have been used from the beginning, as they still are for natural or traditional style sausages.

Sausages became common in Europe and much of the Old World, but cultures developed them to suit to their local tastes and meat varieties. Therefore, it is likely there is truth that Vienna and Frankfurt both had existing sausage traditions that likely then influenced what would become the hot dog. In fact, almost any European who likely migrated to the United States in the 18th or 19th centuries could claim credit for developing the hot dog, as very likely the tradition would have been widespread throughout Europe as it is today. Similar to ancient periods, the Medieval period saw continued use of sausages due to the ease in which the food preserves and its convenient packaging. While the use of animal intestines for food packaging would make us think there is a high probability of sickness or infection, which was likely the case in the past, it also likely helped make Europeans and others develop immunity from some parasites that would be found in animal intestines.

The American Hot Dog

The American hot dog, which is now the hot dog that influenced other countries in adopting this type of food, likely developed from the dachshund sausages that was served by some German immigrants in the United States. In 1860s, German immigrants were known to sell dachshund sausages with milk rolls and sauerkraut. In 1871, a German baker, Charles Feltman, opened the first known stand in Coney Island that specifically selling the dachshund sausages with milk rolls. In the 1893 exhibition in Chicago, a city with many German immigrants, visitors to the city became acquainted with this type of sausage. It proved popular as vendors could sell them from their carts, put them in a bun, which was in the German tradition, and serve to customers at a low cost as they were easy to make and preserved well.

In the same year of 1893, the first baseball team began to sell the predecessor to the modern hot dog (dachshund sausages) at baseball games. The Saint Louis Browns were the first team to sell these sausages at their games in buns. The owner, Chris Von de Ahe, was a German-American who saw an opportunity in selling these products at games, where they were easy to eat while sitting and watching the game as they required to knife or fork to eat given the shape of the sausages being long and thin. While the sausage buns were not a standard size, in 1904 Anton Feuchtwanger, at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, helped to develop a bun that fit the shape of the sausage. However, some dispute this and state that Feltman in 1871 had already developed a specialized bun that fit the long, thing shaped sausages. Regardless, this innovation made it even easier to hold and consume the sausage as people sat and watched the exhibition or other events. The origins of the term 'hot dog' is not fully clear. The most likely story is that in the 1890s, at Yale, German immigrants selling dachshund sausages became associated with dachshund dogs, which were thin and long dogs. The association of the dogs with the sausage vendors could have been a play on words that associated the two, as pronouncing dachshund was not easy for many Americans and the term 'hot dog' in reference to the shape and vendors became easier. Other origin myths could have been that 'hot dogs' were a derisive reference to the accusation that dogs were sometimes used as the meat of the hot dogs.

As larger food consumer companies began to manufacture hot dogs, they also experimented with different products to hold the meat together and they started creating artificial cellulose casing. The meat itself in most hot dogs today is mostly a paste of different types of meats, including chicken, pork, or beef. After intense heating, the encasing is peeled away. Traditional sausages, however, are still sold.