Hotdog essay
Jonathan Gill
Professor Robert Kubus
English 3 AP
24 February 2020
Hotdogs are sandwiches.
For millennia humans have pondered, thought, and questioned. Great philosophical minds such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle based their entirety and identity on thought. We as a species try to come up with answers to age-old questions. “ Why are we here? Where do we come from, where do we go? ( Cotton eyed Joe.)” And the most important and vital of questions: Is a hot dog a sandwich? Simply, yes. Although one would assume that this is common knowledge, it seems the American education system has failed us. In my expedition to spread the great word, there have been many nay-sayers, non-believers, and close-minded individuals that remain with the wool pulled over their eyes. That’s why in this essay I will passionately defend and explain the fact that a hot dog is a sandwich, because of definition and labels, form/function, and origin. Plus how it relates to other sandwich subclasses
Now before I explain why a hotdog is a sandwich, let’s set our bases. What is a hotdog, what’s a sandwich? Let’s look at it. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a sandwich as “two or more slices of bread or a split roll having a filling in between’’ Just a statement from the dictionary in every American public school, Merriam-Webster dictionary, the U.S standard dictionary. Do you know what else is a U.S Standard? The hot dog. While the hot dog is technically the name of the sausage, a hot dog is most commonly served inside of a hot dog bun. So There you have it, A filling inside of a split roll. Similar in construction to that of a sub sandwich or hoagie. And even if you don’t consider Hoagies or Sub-SANDWICHES sandwiches, for some apish reasoning of yours, There is a second definition of “sandwich.“ In the MW dictionary, Definition two states: “one slice of bread covered with food” A hot dog being commonly served vertically. One could interpret the bun as one piece of bread slightly folded, with a sausage on top. Fitting the second definition for sandwich. Describing an “open-faced” sandwich.
Sandwiches, a tale as old as time, I bet the Earl himself probably has an AARP card by now. Sandwiches, and more specifically hotdogs, have a history to them. Here is historical information that further proves my case. The “hot-dog “ sausage originated as the “frankfurter sausage” in late 1600’s Germany. And made its way to the United States thanks to German immigrants. Charles Feltman ran a hotdog stand on Coney Island in the late 1800s. He was tired of having to issue utensils to his customers. So he added, quote: a “roll”. Where did he get this roll you may ask? Well, he also ran a seafood restaurant. This restaurant had a “shrimp and clam sandwich” he used that roll for the hotdog. And in the Schematics for that sandwich, it is labeled as a roll. And the original name of this new dish by Charles Feltman? The “Coney Island”, or “Frankfurter sandwich.” So historically, Since the origin of the famous “American” hot dog, it has been labeled a sandwich.
Now, I must address my largest detractor, The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, or NHDSC. The basis of the largest and most frequent counter-argument to my preaching by far. The NHDSC claims that the hotdog is not a sandwich. Awful, I’m aware. It is a tragedy that the face of this beautiful nation’s hot dogs and sausages would be such an ugly one. A whole organization against me, a NATIONAL organization. It seems I’ve been defeated. Or have I? Ladies and gentlemen, if they could impeach Clinton, I can take down NHDSC, And the NHDSC doesn’t even have a saxophone. So yeah, The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council states that a hotdog isn’t a sandwich. But where’s their proof?
They don’t have any.
They have 12 measly reasons with zero actual connection to the form or function of a hot dog. I will now respond to a few of their pathetic excuses for an argument:
“If you were watching a great athlete showing off during a game, you don’t call him a sandwich.”
You’re right I wouldn’t, I’d call them by their name, they deserve respect.
“ Does ESPN broadcast sandwich eating contests?”
Yes, Nathan’s annual hotdog eating contest, because hot dogs are sandwiches.
“Imagine being at the ballpark with the organ playing, the crowd cheering, and a vendor walking through the stands saying “Sandwich, get your sandwich here!”
I’m imagining it, It seems wonderful.
“Dirty Harry would not have sounded nearly as ominous if he said, “Never ever put mayo on a sandwich.” But when he said, “Never ever put ketchup on a hot dog,” people sat up and listened.”
The kind of people that feel frightened by a middle-aged man talking about sandwich condiments, that’s the NHDSC. (no disrespect to Dirty harry)
“ You wouldn’t get arrested for putting ketchup on a sandwich in Chicago.”
You’re correct because it isn’t illegal to put ketchup on any food item. Including all types of sandwiches.
“There are never any myths or mystique about what’s in a sandwich.”
That is true because the ingredients of any FDA-regulated food are printed on the packaging.
Sorry if you guys can’t read.
All of their points are childish and irrelevant. But why must they resort to poor jokes and pop culture references.? To distract us. You see the NHDSC is a trade association. Trade associations are large businesses/ organizations that work in specific industries. The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council regulate the trade, sale, and distribution of hotdogs and sausages. So of course they would market the hotdog as this special, completely unique item. They would profit from that belief. The more hotdogs they sell the more they gain. Their motive is not the truth, but greed.
Trade associations also have large political influence. Often endorsing political heads and lawmakers. ( reminder that all of this is coming from a tinfoil hat free author.)
In my research on trade associations, and laws I stumbled upon a hotdog-related law. The infamous” hotdog tax.” The “Hotdog tax of 1971” is a law put in place by various local governments ( New York namely) that raised the tax for items of a “higher caliber.” Hot dogs specifically. This targeted lower-income families that relied on cheaper forms of sustenance, such as hot dogs. In 1971 New York that demographic was, unfortunately, largely African American. This law had a similar strategy and effect of “redlining” The Washington examiner touched on this, saying “Essentially, states purposely classified hot dogs as non-sandwiches in the mid-20th century with the express purpose of imposing sales taxes…it directly targeted poor people…” So The government would enforce that a hot dog is not a sandwich, because doing so provides the bourgeoisie with greater economic gain at the expense of lower-income residents. This malicious and discriminatory tactic played a large role in separating hotdogs from their sandwich origins. So campaigning that a hot dog is not a sandwich is technically supporting race and class-based discrimination.
In conclusion, The National Hotdog and Sausage Council are untrustworthy, and they and the “Hot Dog tax” are both discriminatory, and based on greed. But most importantly, to me as an individual, to history, to equality, and to Charles Feltman, Based on definition and labels, form/function, and origin, A hot dog is a Sandwich.
“ Corporate greed…Government greed…National greed…Big business greed
It’s all greed, It’s all greed,
It’s all greed.” -Pennywise “Greed”
“Sandwich.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sandwich.
Paravano, Kathryn. “End of Debate: A Hot Dog Is a Sandwich.” Washington Examiner, 10 Aug. 2019, www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/end-of-debate-a-hot-dog-is-a-sandwich.
“National Hot Dog and Sausage Council” “hot-dog.org”https://www.hot-dog.org/culture/hot-dog-sandwich
“Charles Feltman.” Coney Island History Project, 22 Apr. 2016, www.coneyislandhistory.org/hall-of-fame/charles-feltman.
“National Hot Dog and Sausage Council.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 3 Oct. 2019, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Hot_Dog_and_Sausage_Council
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_association
“New York Law Archive.” Accessed April 21, 2020.
