It's the dog days of summer here in Brooklyn, a perfect time to head down to Coney Island and enjoy a hot dog on the boardwalk. This coat of arms honoring the 50th anniversary of the hot dog in 1939 shows a royal figure knighting a kneeling hot dog in the center. On the sides are two dachshunds (wiener dogs, of course) standing on their hind legs with faces turned up towards a radiant pot of "sinapi" ("mustard" in Latin). The words "Calidus Canis" (do we really need a translation for this?) frame the bottom of the crest with a flourish.
Believe it or not, this scene really happened, or at least it was planned. In 1939, the Coney Island Chamber of Commerce declared July 23 Hot Dog Day and held a golden jubilee celebration to mark 50 years since the hot dog was paired with a roll at Feltman's Restaurant on Coney Island. A Brooklyn Daily Eagle article laying out the plans for the celebration announced there was to be a hot dog eating contest, including 200 children from St. John's Orphan Asylum, and a burial of a hot-dog-on-a-roll in the sand (a kind of time capsule for future generations) presided over by Milton Berle.
And one will recognize the last event mentioned from the above image: "Somebody dressed up like the King of Merrie England will, with due ceremony, slap a hot dog with his sword and chant, 'I dub thee Sir Hot Dog,' just as King James I long ago knighted a favorite loin of beef, thus creating Sirloin." ("Hot dog has its day in Coney celebration," July 23, 1939, Brooklyn Daily Eagle).
The summer of 1939 was a big summer for the hot dog. Not only were they celebrating Hot Dog Day in Brooklyn, but the Brooklyn Citizen announced in April that it was projected over 30,000,000 hot dogs would be eaten at the 1939 New York World's Fair ("Hot Dog!", April 28, 1939, The Brooklyn Citizen). And the Roosevelts hosted King George VI and Queen Elizabeth for a "'hot dog' picnic" at their Hyde Park estate in June ("Royalty's visit has Hyde Park astir early," June 10, 1939, Brooklyn Daily Eagle). Hot dog, indeed!
Interested in seeing more photos from CBH’s collections? Visit our online image gallery, which includes a selection of our images, or the digital collections portal at Brooklyn Public Library. We look forward to inviting you to CBH in the future to research in our entire collection of images, archives, maps, and special collections. In the meantime, please visit our resources page to search our collections. Questions? Our reference staff is available to help with your research! You can reach us at cbhreference@bklynlibrary.org.
This blog post reflects the opinions of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of Brooklyn Public Library.
Why is Nathan's not mentioned
I didn't mention Nathan's
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