The Birth of the Hot Dog: Was Famous Nathan a Backstabber?

There are those revisionists that would have you believe that the hot dog, as we know it, was invented by Nathan Handwerker, of Famous Nathan's. That just isn't the case.

It was another Coney Islander, Charles Feltman, who gave us the hot dog. As a young German immigrant, Feltman drove a pie wagon up and down the beach at Coney, and got a good business going. But he had a problem: His customers wanted hot sandwiches. Feltman resisted this as involving a lot of elaborate cooking and carving, but one day in 1867 (or 1874; accounts vary) he had an idea. He approached a wheelwright named Donovan and asked if it would be possible to put a burner in the pie wagon. Feltman could then keep a supply of warm sausages on hand and fork one onto a sliced milk roll whenever a customer called for a hot sandwich.

Donovan cobbled one together on the spot, Feltman threw some sausages in to boil, and in a little while, there in Donovan's shop at East New York and Howard Avenues in Brooklyn, the two men ate the world's first two hot dogs.

Some reckless people dispute these facts; what isn't disputed is that Feltman's delicacy was popular enough to build its inventor an enormous restaurant on Coney, a complex of beer gardens and breezeways that ran along West 10th Street from Surf Avenue to the shore. By the turn of the century, Feltman had 1,200 waiters working for him, serving as many as 8,000 meals at a time. His place became famous for its seafood, but throughout his immense restaurant, he kept seven grills busy turning out hot dogs for 10 cents each.

It was from Feltman that Nathan Handwerker learned about hot dogs. Handwerker, an employee of Feltman's hot dog stand, was encouraged by celebrity clients Eddie Cantor and Jimmy Durante to go into business in competition with his former employer. Handwerker undercut Feltman's by charging five cents for a hot dog when his former employer was charging ten. At a time when food regulation was in its infancy, and the pedigree of the hot dog particularly suspect, Handwerker made sure that men wearing surgeon's smocks were seen eating at his stand to reassure potential customers. The business proved immensely popular. And so now you know the rest of the story.

DOG AND GOLDFISH REGISTERED TO VOTE IN LAKE COUNTY, INDIANA

The headline of this article was "Possible voter registration fraud problems". "Possible"? Really? Ya think? More revealing news from Lake County, Indiana.

Local authorities say they have discovered discrepancies in hundreds of motor voter registrations. They say, in one case, someone registered a dog to vote.

"Campaigns and candidates need to realize that things can be wrong. We can't say with assurance that all the people in our voter rolls are valid residents at the address where they are registered," said Lake County Clerk Willard Helander.

Helander wants to get on the record before Election Day. She says there has been an unprecedented number of problems with the mail-in voter registration cards. The clerk also says registering by mail is based on an honors system, a system that has been breached in Lake County.

The clerk says she has seen various problems. For example, deceased voters have been revived. Residents who are not even eligible to vote have received cards. On one card, a person wrote, "cannot vote - not a US citizen." Another card had a voter named Princess. It turns out, 'Princess' is not only dead, but Princess was a goldfish. When asked about race or ethnic group, another person wrote canine. And these are the cards that were caught. The clerk is worried about the ones that weren't.

HILLARY TO OBAMA: FIGHT YOUR OWN BATTLES YOU MISOGYNIST SUM BITCH

A Hillary Clinton insider says that she is declining Obama's invitation to woek a hatchet job on Sarah Palin:

HILLARY Clinton may be the most obvious choice to throw into the ring against the new darling of American politics, Sarah Palin, but the failed Democratic presidential candidate is refusing the job.

"We're not going to be anybody's attack dog against Sarah Palin," a Clinton insider said yesterday.

It's an extraordinary act of hubris from a woman whose success in exposing Barack Obama's weakness in working-class Democratic states such as Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana may have been the reason that John McCain chose a gun-toting, God-loving mother of five as his running mate.

Although she is 60 and unlikely to have another shot at the White House, Clinton is apparently concerned that she would appear ungenerous to the Republicans' first female vice-presidential candidate if she were to go after her.

While the Obama camp has asked Clinton to step up her campaigning in the blue-collar states - such as Ohio and Pennsylvania - where she did so well in the primaries, Clinton has said she would also campaign in Texas, where she is not popular, because there is money there and she needs to pay off $US2 0million ($24.5 million) of campaign debt.

Her refusal to roll up her sleeves against Palin, who describes herself as "a pit bull with lipstick", has already come under questioning by Democratic apparatchiks. "The strategic imperative right now is to do something about Palin and prevent her cutting through the race," said Democratic strategist Tad Devine. "She is practising the same slash-and-burn politics of division of the Bush years. Hillary Clinton can make the charge that Governor Palin represents the far Right."

PALESTINIANS DON'T WANT NO SNOOP DOG IN ISRAEL

It figures. These uptight bastards can't even get into some "gin and juice":

Rap superstar Snoop Dogg has been urged by Palestinian campaigners to cancel an upcoming concert in Israel and join them in "boycotting" the Jewish state. The "Drop It Like It's Hot" hitmaker is scheduled to perform in the country on September 18 - but activists belonging to the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) is calling on Snoop Dogg to follow their example.

They have expressed their disappointment at the hip-hop star's tour plans, especially when tensions between Palestine and Israel are so high, according to AllHipHop.com.

KETCHUP ON YOUR HOT DOG? IT'S NOT JUST FOR MENTAL PATIENTS AND KANSANS ANYMORE

A repost of one of the first posts on this blog. It seemed like the day was appropriate.

As the saying goes, "the only people who put ketchup on their hot dogs are mental patients, and Kansans. THE BIG FEED, however, has learned of a growing sub-culture of non-Kansans and non-mental patients who are shunning the traditional condiments in favor of the vinegar based paste. "Hot Dog Man", creator of thehotdogtruck.com, and a man who sells hot dogs for a living, wrote of this seedy element of the hotdog world:

Ketchup is very much a staple condiment-Ronald Reagan said it was a vegetable! Ketchup is great on fries, burgers-even eggs.

But not on a hot dog.

When I first opened, I would not put ketchup on a hot dog for my patrons. I had a basket of ketchup packets outside for the ketchup eating crowd. I would shell out a fair bit of abuse on the ketchup loving populace as well. Sometimes I'd ask for ID (the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council says ketchup shouldn't be put on hot dogs for anyone over age 18). Other times I'd say (incredulously) "KETCHUP?!?!? ON A HOT DOG?!?!?!" If there was a group of people and one guy ordered a dog with ketchup, I'd ask his friends if they could perhaps hold a hot dog intervention for him. Whatever insult I'd hurl, I'd sweep my hands contemptuously toward the Ketchup packets and say "I won't put ketchup on a hot dog, help yourself." This little schtick annoyed and amused the clientelle-it usually got a laugh and I have never been punched for it.

There was one guy who got wise to the act and ordered his hot dogs plain to avoid the abuse. He'd then sneak a few ketchup packets and go back to his car to eat so I wouldn't hurl abuse at him. This guy is a big Red Sox fan and we'd always chat about the Sox while he was waiting for his dogs. He is a seasonal worker so he wasn't out in the winter. In the spring of 2005 (after my Red Sox won it all) he popped by and told me he was going to see the Sox play on opening day in New York City. I asked him how he scored the tickets and he said he had a new girlfriend from Connecticut and she was a Yankee Fan.

I said "brother, if you can date a Yankee fan, I can put ketchup on your hot dogs."

So now you can get ketchup on your dogs at the Hot Dog Truck-I've even toned down the abuse.

So there you have it. Ketchup on hotdogs is not just for mental patients and Kansans. Red Sox fans are now in on the act.

WHEN "KEEPING IT REAL" STRIKES!: PART 2

Here he is again. Struck down by the dogs of war.

DAMN! THIS DOG IS CRAZY

Kids. Don't do drugs.

THE TWO FACES OF OBAMA

Never has a man who has shown so much stupidity, done so much for so many stupid people...

Monday night...Iran doesn't pose a serious threat


Tuesday morning...

"Iran is a grave threat. It has an illicit nuclear program. It supports terrorism across the region and militias in Iraq. It threatens Israel's existence. It denies the Holocaust," he said. "The reason Iran is so much more powerful than it was a few years ago is because of the Bush-McCain policy of fighting in Iraq and refusing to pursue direct diplomacy with Iran. They're the ones who have not dealt with Iran wisely."

Previously, I had been blaming Obama's contradictions and constant gaffes on lack of experience and political pandering. Now, I'm convinced his inconsistencies are the result of a more sinister force...


Wake up America! Dude's drunk!

MUSLIM THREATS FORCE OUT DISABLED TEACHER WITH SERVICE DOG

What a shock. It's in Minnesota.

A Muslim high school student's intolerance for a service dog needed by a student teacher with a disability has reportedly prompted the student teacher to abandon the last 10 hours of his scheduled assignment at Technical High School in St. Cloud, Minn.

The St. Cloud Times online said the situation developed with student teacher Tyler Hurd, 23, of Mahtomedi, who hopes to teach special education. He's a student at St. Cloud State University, and was assigned to Technical High School in the St. Cloud district for his 50 hours of student teaching, and took with him his service dog, Emmitt.

The newspaper said Hurd needs a service dog because of a childhood injury that leaves him with seizures, sometimes happening as often as weekly. The black lab is trained to protect Hurd when he has a seizure.

Hurd, however, reported a student threatened to kill his dog. He said the threat came from a Somali student who is Muslim. Minnesota has a large Somali population, mostly Muslim, and they have been involved in issues over their religion in the past.

So Minnesota has sunk to the point where its desire to kiss Muslims' asses trumps respect for the handicapped? Helen Keller would be all kinds of pissed off.