Hot Dogs Were Invented Because a Glove Vendor Ran Out of Gloves

One of America's favorite foods has a disputed but delightful origin story. At the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, sausage vendor Anton Feuchtwanger reportedly ran out of white gloves he was lending customers to hold hot sausages. His brother-in-law, a baker, suggested placing the sausages in long soft rolls instead — and the hot dog as we know it was born.

The term 'hot dog' may have appeared in print as early as 1892. Nathan Handwerker founded Nathan's Famous hot dog stand at Coney Island in 1916, selling franks for 5 cents. Americans consume approximately 20 billion hot dogs per year — about 818 per second during peak summer months.