Well. Here it is again. The Fourth of July.
There is something about this day that drives people to eat hot dogs. I think it might be some quirky influence from the Great Spirits of the Founding Fathers, or something. Because July 4th is one of the biggest days for hot dog consumption in the United States. Americans chomp down millions of hot dogs on this day each year.
Back to those Fathers. I’m going to blame it on John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg. This guy Muhlenberg was a Lutheran minister, a Continental Army colonel during the American Revolutionary War, and a delegate to the Pennsylvania state constitutional convention. He was born in Trappe, Pennsylvania, in 1746, the son of German immigrants.
Okay. Here is the thing. While the exact origin of the hot dog is debated, it is believed to have originated in Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany, hence the term “frankfurter.” It’s also associated with Vienna, Austria, leading to the alternative name “wiener.”
Either way, the hot dog was born in Germany via the sausage. And I think that John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg brought it with him to the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Yep. While the ink was still drying on that sacred document, John Peter said to the group: “Boys. Let’s celebrate. Let’s go eat some wieners.”
So he went behind the hall, started a fire, and began roasting the hot dogs he brought from home. And, of course, John Adams did a brief stint as a baker to earn extra money in his youth, so he brought the buns.
And lo and behold, since that historic date, Americans have been celebrating independence with the German sausage spinoff.
That first Independence Day is also when the name “hot dog” came into being. It seems that Arthur Middleton brought his Daschaund all the way from Charleston, South Carolina. Little Fido got too close to the fire, and Ben Franklin cried out, “Oh no. Hot dog.” Fido was okay. But since he looked a great deal like the sausages they were eating, the name stuck.
So there it is. Your first Hot Dog History, American Style.
Coincidently, the character Uncle Sam, often associated with the United States government, also came from a branch of the hot dog. “Uncle Sam” is said to have been inspired by a meatpacker from Troy, New York, named Samuel Wilson. Yep, he handled lots of hot dogs. But he also provided barrels of beef to the U.S. Army during the War of 1812. The barrels were stamped with “U.S.” for United States, but soldiers joked that it stood for “Uncle Sam,” and the nickname stuck.
So that is the true and absolute story.
Well, some of it is projection.
But Happy Hot Dog Day, regardless. Let Freedom Reign.
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“Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.” – Abraham Lincoln
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“Freedom is the open window through which pours the sunlight of the human spirit and human dignity.” – Herbert Hoover
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“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.” – Thomas Jefferson
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The Fourth of Hot Dog Day
