National Hot Dog Day Revisited

We seldom talk about food on this blog, and in the opinion of my wife, today we won’t be doing that either. But the humble hot dog has such a close association with Coney Island, one of our principal content streams, that we have given it attention on multiple previous occasions. And today being National Hot Dog Day, I thought of another angle — tying it to two species of frankfurter peculiar to my home state of Rhode Island. (For those impatient for show business posts, I refer you to articles I have published here on previous July 16s, concerning Barbara Stanwyck, Ginger Rogers, Blossom Seeley, Percy Kilbride, Bess Myerson, Barnard Hughes, Sonny Tufts, Heinie Conklin, Stanley Clements, Hannah Williams of the Williams Sisters, magician John Henry Anderson; tattooed lady Artoria Gibbons, the unrelated Floyd Gibbons, Skeeter Bill Robbins, Blaney and Farrar, Edward Earle, Mabel Wayne, and farther afield painter Joshua Reynolds, polar explorer Roald Amundsen, and Mary Baker Eddy, founder of Christian Science. Also it’s National Snake Day and I did this thing on snake charmers).

And now, to quote Joey Chestnut, “to the hot dogs”.

In Rhode Island we have a mysterious local delicacy marketed as the “New York System Weiner”. Like most Rhode Islanders, I have spent a lifetime nonplussed by this anomaly. What is a “New York System”? And why is it only in Rhode Island? Even so, we knew more than you probably do, which is what I’m even referring to. A New York System Weiner is a certain kind of hot dog covered with all kinds of crap, including, but not limited to, celery salt, yellow mustard, chopped onions, and a meat sauce seasoned with cumin, paprika, chili powder, and allspice, and I dunno, gunpowder? It has never been my thing (I’m the sort who’s just as happy to eat hot dogs with no condiments at all), but one of my high school buddies swore by them. It’s fare for the seeker, the kind of person who likes maximal spice in their food. Exhibitionists! But they keep the world spinning — if only by force of their flatulence!

At any rate, I wanted to finally get the story on these things, and that is what the internet is for. (This post draws from various sources, but I especially recommend this article from quahog.com, which is much more in depth than this one. Like any good hot dog chef, I have “boiled it down” for those who are “on the go”.) As one may have vaguely guessed, what is meant by “New York System” has to do with the origin of hot dogs in Coney Island. And they are still sometimes known as “Coney Island System” franks. (When a New Yorker hears “Coney Island System”, they’re gonna reply, “What? You mean the BRT?”)

As for what is meant by a “system”, I found a possible precedent in the Waldorf System, New England’s first eatery chain, established in 1903, as an offshoot of New York’s Waldorf Hotel. “System” is used here, presumably, to be synonymous with “chain”. As opposed to some technique for making hot dogs. That clarification is reinforced by the fact that there is no sort of hot dog commonly sold in Coney Island or New York with the same recipe as the Rhode Island variation, unless they’re referring to those new-fangled “buns”, which is entirely possible. Before Feltman, there were just Vienna sausages.

For quick frame of reference: Feltman’s came out with hot dogs in Coney Island circa 1867, and Nathan’s started hawking the nickel frank in 1916.

200 miles east of Coney Island innovations were made in the Ocean State, although there is (not surprisingly) dispute about where and how they originated. Sparky’s Coney Island System in East Providence claimed primacy, dating to 1915. Sadly they closed their doors just over a century later (2016) for tax reasons, so it’s hard to confirm anything one way or another. In 1920, Greek-American Nicholas “Nick” Pappas opened Nick’s Coney Island in nearby Fall River, Mass. Augustus “Gust” Pappas (I’m not sure how they’re related) opened Baba’s Original New York System Weiners in 1927 on Smith Street in the Olneyville section of Providence. (This is the other reason I am writing this post. Christopher Olney (1745-1809), for whom this neighborhood is named, was my 6th great grand uncle.) Confusingly there’s also an Olneyville New York System place in Cranston.

Anyway, “New York System” was never patented, copyrighted, trademarked or whatever, so in short order the popular delicacy (much like the hot dog itself) was widely pirated and bootlegged throughout the state. And there’s yer explanation!

Ah, but I promised TWO Rhode Island hot dog introductions, and so here’s another one, though it will be brief:

Saugys are an even older Rhode Island tradition, dating to 1869, a mere two years after Feltman started doing his thing. Produced in nearby Cranston, many locals regard it as the premium frankfurter to be had in the area. My mom, among them! I have always hated them for the thing other people prize them for: the trademark “snap” as you bite through the sausage skin. The very idea makes me want to heave. I always assumed that “Saugy” was some kind of abbreviation for “sausage” but it turns out that it’s actually the name of the founder of the company, Alphonse Saugy. Both names seem to be French in origin. Rhode Island is home to many French Canadian immigrants. If you wanna try Saugys, go here.

For a portal to my other hot dog posts go here.