Hot dogs are the quintessential American summer food. Cookouts simply wouldn't be the same without them. But like so many iconic American foods, the hot dog is so much more than just lunch — it reflects the story of America itself.
Traditionally, the German city of Frankfurt-am-Main gets the credit as the birthplace of the first frankfurter in 1487, but they're not the only city that claims the hot dog. Some say that the wiener is named for Wien — the Austrian city that English speakers call Vienna.
The frankfurter (or wiener or little-dog) sausage came to America in the 19th century with immigrants from Germany and Austria.
The first hot dog stand (as far as we know) opened in 1871 on Coney Island. The proprietor, a German baker names Charles Feltman, did a brisk business selling sausages with rolls, moving more than 3,600 in just the first year. In 1893, hot dogs found their spiritual home: The baseball park. German immigrant Chris Von de Ahe, owner of the St. Louis Browns major league baseball team, started selling them during Browns games.
The origin of the name "hot dog" is something of a mystery. According to one popular legend, hot dog vendors at the New York Polo Grounds accidentally coined the name in 1901 as they shouted "Get your dachshund sausages while they're red hot!" during an unseasonably cold April day.
Hot dogs are firmly fixed to American culture. Between Memorial Day and Labor Day each year, Americans eat an estimated 7 billion hot dogs.
