How did Hot Dogs get their name?

And now, it’s time for Who’s Smarted. Hey, smarty pants, it’s me, the trusty narrator. Today, I’m in Central Park playing Frisbee with my pal and Who’s Smarted News reporter, Chad Nickerson. We just finished playing, but it seems he forgot to give me back my Frisbee.

Heads up, trusty!

INCOMING! Ow! This is Chet Nickerson reporting. There’s been a freak frisbee accident in the park involving who’s smarted’s trusty narrative.

Relax, Chet, I’m fine.

Hah!

Gotcha! See you next week!

same time. Bye Chet. Well, at least I got my frisbee back. But now I’m hungry and the nearest pizza place is three miles away. Oof, I wonder if there’s anything here in the park I can eat.

Hot dogs! Get your hot dogs here!

Ooh, a hot dog might hit the spot. I’ll just head on over to this snazzy -looking hot dog standin’. Hey, there’s nobody here, but I just heard someone saying…

HUT DOGS! GET YOUR HUT DOGS HERE!

Yep, just like that. Did you hear that too, smarty pants? But there’s nobody around. Hey, down here. Oops, sorry.

I didn’t see you down there. Uh -huh, I get that a lot, I’m pretty short.

You are, but also, you’re a talking Dachshund. Smarty Pants, do you know what a Dachshund is? Is it A, a type of hot dog? B, a type of dog? Or C, a condiment for sandwiches? If you said B, a type of dog, you’re right.

A Dachshund is a small dog with a long body and cute little legs. But what is a Dachshund doing? Owning a hot dog stand?

Hey, if it wasn’t for dachshunds, hot dogs wouldn’t even be called hot dogs. Really?

Wow, I’ve been eating hot dogs for a long time, but I guess I don’t really know that much about them. For example, how did hot dogs get their name? How long have hot dogs been around? What are they made of?

And how did they become so popular, especially at baseball games at the park? Get ready for another whiff of science and history on…

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Hot dogs! Get your hot dogs here!

I’m here at Mustard the Dog’s Hot Dog Stand, determined to fill up on both hot dogs and information about this very popular food. But first, I gotta know. How did Dachshund Dogs help hot dogs get their name?

Smarty Pants, any ideas? Is it because Dachshund’s A, look like hot dogs? B, love to eat hot dogs? Or C, smell like hot dogs?

If you said, A, look like hot dogs, you’re right. Sometime in 1901, a sportswriter named Thomas A. Dorgan went to a baseball game. At this game, the crowd wasn’t only going crazy for baseball, they were also super excited about sausages and rolls.

These sausages had been around since the 1860s, when immigrants from Europe brought them to America, but they didn’t really have a good name yet. Sausagees! Sausagees! Sausagees!

Sausages, get your piping hard extra long sausages.

Yeah, that doesn’t sound quite as fun.

When Thomas A. Dorgan got home from the game, he knew he wanted to draw a cartoon about this. And he guesses what he drew.

Umm… a baseball player using a sausage as a bat?

No, he drew a cute little dachshund in a bun. Oh! Only he didn’t know how to spell dachshund, so instead he just captioned his cartoon, Hot Dog. And guess what?

The baseball player with the sausage bat struck out.

No! The name’s stuck!

Oh, of course! You know, smarty pants, there’s other names for hot dogs. Can you think of any? Why, they’re sometimes called Franks after Frankfurt, Germany, and Wieners after Wien, the German name for Vienna, Austria, since both of these places are believed to have played a big part in the invention of the hot dog.

Ahhh. But wait, does that mean hot dogs were around before 1901?

Oh yeah, well they might not have always been called hot dogs. Hot dogs have been around a really long time. In the 8th century BCE, the Greek poet Homer described cooking sausages over a fire.

Wow, can you believe that, smarty pants? Hot dogs have technically been around since ancient times. Whoa.

But it’s not just the name of the food that’s changed since Homer wrote about them. A lot of things have happened to get from ancient sausages to the hot dogs you know and love today.

Well I can think of one thing those 8th century BCE sausages were missing that today’s hot dogs usually have. Smarty Pants, any guesses? I hear some smarty pants saying mustard or ketchup. Great guesses, but I’m thinking of something that makes a hot dog easier to hold.

Did you say a bun? Nice.

That’s right, the first hot dogs were sold without buns, which means a lot of people burned their hands eating hot dogs right off the grill. Ew! Too hot, too hot. There’s got to be a better way to hold this thing.

Not only does the bun protect your hand, but it also makes it super convenient to eat. No knife or fork necessary.

Aha! And this makes hot dogs a great food to eat outside, like at ball games or at a picnic in the park.

And they’re perfect for grilling or even cooking in a campfire on a camping trip. Plus, you can customize your hot dog to your exact liking. Think of how many things you can put on a hot dog.

Okay, um, ketchup, mustard, mayo, onions, pickles, relish, sauerkraut, jalapenos, chili, bacon, avocado, beans, coleslaw, gravy, fries, chips, and of course, cheese.

Here you go one with the works. Oh

I didn’t realize I was ordering, but…

Down the hatch. Nom, nom, nom, nom, nom. Depending on where you are, different kinds of hot dogs might be popular. For example, Michigan dogs are a kind of chili dog.

which are popular in Michigan.

Right? Actually, Michigan dogs are popular in New York. Hot dogs, get your Michigan hot dogs! And Coney Island dogs are also topped with chili and named after a neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York.

Ah, so those are definitely popular in New York.

No, Michigan.

Smartypants, question, what do you think was the first condiment ever put on a hotdog? Was it A, chili, B, ketchup, or C, mustard? Ooh, that’s a toughie. If you heard our Who Smarted episode on condiments, you know I like them all.

But there can only be one right answer. And that is…

Mustard! I’m named after the first condiment ever put on a hotdog.

And when was that?

at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis. While many people mistakenly think this was the first time hot dogs were put in buns, it was actually the first time yellow mustard was ever squirted on a hot dog.

Mustard is delicious, and may in fact have been the first condiment ever used by humans. There’s evidence of mustard being used as a seasoning, dating back around 4 ,000 years. That’s longer than people have been eating hot dogs.

Oh. But no matter what you put on your hot dog, there’s a special time of the year when most hot dogs are eaten.

Smarty Pants, when do you think the most hot dogs are eaten? Is it A, January, B, April, or C, July? If you said July, you’re right. July is considered National Hot Dog Month in the USA. Not only is there the Hot Dog Eating Championship every July 4th, but there’s even a National Hot Dog Day celebrated on July 23rd.

It’s definitely my favorite day of the year. Of course, I sell a ton of hot dogs all month long.

Hmm, smarty pants. How many hot dogs do you think Americans eat every July? Go ahead, shout out your answer. Uh -huh, uh -huh, uh -huh. Would you believe the answer is two billion? Two billion hot dogs.

If you lined up two billion hot dogs, they would stretch over 190 ,000 miles. That’s enough to circle the earth seven times. Whoa.

If I could sell that many, I could retire.

Houston, we have a problem. There seems to be seven hot dog rings around the Earth.

Smarty Pants, here’s another question. Where do you think people eat the most hot dogs? Is it A, New York City, B, Los Angeles, or C, Orlando? If you said New York City, good guess. Hot dog carts like Mustard’s here are very popular in New York, but that’s not the right answer.

The city that eats the most hot dogs is actually B, Los Angeles, followed by New York City, Chicago, San Antonio, and Philadelphia.

I still say New York has the best hot dogs. It’s something about the water.

Ah, that reminds me. We’ve talked a lot about putting hot dogs inside you. Burp. But we haven’t talked about what’s inside a hot dog. What exactly are hot dogs made of?

The answer is…

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Again, go to squarespace .com backslash smarted to save 10%. Thanks. Now back to who smarted. So, smarty pants, chances are most of you have eaten or at least tasted a hot dog. You might even be eating one right now.

Nom, nom, nom, nom, nom. But what exactly did you eat?

Well, not to sound too gross, but hot dogs are made of something called emulsified meat trimmings. Oh! Meat trimmings? Sounds delicious!

Uh, okay. And what exactly is an emulsified meat trimming? He asked nervously.

It’s kinda like blended or ground -up meat mixed with water to form almost like a batter. Hot dogs, like other emulsified meats such as bologna, sausage, and meat cake. I was gonna say meatloaf, but sure, meat cake probably counts.

Anyway, the meats used could be trimmings of beef or pork, and this meaty batter is then stuffed inside casings made from… you sure you wanna know?

It can’t get any worse.

Damnit! Animal intestines!

Why, yes. Yes, it can get worse.

About 30% or one third of a hot dog is made up of fats. 50% or half is made of water. Then you got your spices like paprika, red pepper, sugar, or corn syrup, salt, black pepper, and sodium nitrate. And the rest is filler.

Did you say filler? Yeah. What’s filler? He asked, terrified? Oh.

Fill up for hot dogs, and they can include things like non -fat dried milk and powdered bone meal

Huh, you know, maybe 3 miles isn’t that far to walk for pizza.

Ah, come on, trusty. You know you love hot dogs.

It’s true, I do, and like lots of things that are made with gross stuff, they’re still delicious. Of course, not all hot dogs are made of beef and pork, there’s turkey franks, chicken dogs, veggie or plant -based hot dogs, and even tofu hot dogs.

And of course, at the fair, hot dogs are coated in cornmeal and deep -fried to make corn dogs. Yum, city! Yeah, I don’t sell those. Oh, speaking of selling hot dogs, is it true the first place you could buy hot dogs was in New York City?

It is true, but it might not be what you think. Bye.

I was going to say Nathan’s, home of the Nathan’s hot dog eating contest.

That’s what I thought you might say. But while Nathan’s in Coney Island is one of the oldest hot dog sellers and probably the most famous, it was actually Feltman’s, also in Coney Island, that started selling hot dogs in 1913, three years before Nathan’s.

Back then, hot dogs caused a nickel.

Which reminds me, you owe me four bucks.

No, I owe you eight dollars.

No, you only had one hot dog with ketchup, mustard, mayo, onions, pickles, relish, sauerkraut, jalapenos, chili, bacon, avocado, beans, coleslaw, gravy, fries, chips, and cheese!

I know, but I’d like another one, and a water, please. A triple Smarty shout out to Blaine, Natalie, and Leah in Riverside, California, who say they’ve listened to every single episode. A big thanks to all three of you for sharing how much fun you’ve had smarting with us.

We love making learning funny, especially for smarty pants like you three. This episode, Hot Dogs, was written by Sarah Sauerkraut -Sweetik, and voiced by Mustard, Mike Pravitti, Adam Franks -Davis, Max Coney -Dog Comaskey, and Jerry Colbert.

Technical direction and sound designed by Josh Footlong -Hahn. Who Smarted is recorded and mixed at the Relic Room Studios. Our associate producer is Max Comaskey. The theme song is by Brian Buns Suarez, with lyrics written and performed by Adam Tex -Davis.

Who Smarted was created and produced by Adam Tex -Davis and Jerry Colbert. This has been an Atomic Entertainment production.

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