The History of Keener Wieners
You can’t beat this with a stick…
Alles hat ein Ende, nur die Wurst hat zwei (Everything has an end, only the sausage has two) — German idiom
Germans have been enjoying wieners, and therefore arguing about which ones are keener, since at least the 13th century. This is also probably about when the Kühner (Keener) family started making sausage. While I prefer a bacon, lettuce and Cherokee Purple tomato sandwich to wieners this time of year, last Wednesday was National Hot Dog Day. So let’s take a minute to look at the history of “Keener Wieners.”
In the 1940s, local stores in Indiana (such as Clark & Co. in Garrett and Jefferson Market in Kilgore) advertised “Keener Wieners” among their products, and Kingan’s & Co. in Indianapolis advertised Kingan’s Wieners in 1951 with the audacious claim that there were “No Keener Wieners Anywhere!” Superior Meats even started a jingle war about this time, which led another company to respond with “I wish I were an Oscar Mayer Weiner.”
But Frankie, “the fun to eat treat from Superior’s Meats,” is apparently not a Keener family creation. The jingle was created by Reynold Weidenaar and others in the 1950s for Superior’s meat brand icon, which is still in use for their meat products — but no longer includes cookbooks, frisbees or head pillows.
FRANKIES OUR KEENER WIENER and OUR KEENER WIENER are trademarks and brands of FRESH MARK, INC, which does business as Superior’s Brand Meats Inc. And NOTHIN’ KEENER THAN OUR WIENER is a trademark of Wiener Takes All LLC, while the “Keener Wiener Rotisserie Stick” is apparently an independent invention by a guy in Canada named Ronald Green. You can’t beat this with a stick…
The earliest reference to authentic Keener family wieners that I have found dates back to the 1850s in Sligo, Pennsylvania, but the family tradition survives today at the Keener Farm in Dayton, Ohio which supplies local grass-fed, pasture-raised wieners to Table 33 for their own take on the corn dog — Keener Wiener Balls. These modern treats are made from “chunks of Keener Farm’s house-made kielbasa covered in Table 33’s gluten-free waffle batter, deep fried in duck fat, drizzled with housemade honey mustard and Sriracha, and sprinkled with powdered sugar” (The Dayton Daily, 2017). As for James Keener’s Bologna Factory in Sligo, it actually belonged to the cousin of a friend of mine but I’ve yet to confirm a direct family connection…
“This unique industry, which uses recipes which were formulated nearly 200 years ago in Germany and handed down through the years by the Keener family, was embarked upon its lengthy tenure by the late Nicholas Keener who was born in Pittsburg. He had originally established the business in East Brady. His two sons…delivered smoked meats, bologna, sausage and liver pudding by a wagon drawn by two horses. James Philip Keener, present operator…employs two assistants [and] deliver meats to customers in a radius of about 60 miles…[in] station wagons.”
“In the history of Clarion County, 1837 edition, was the following:
‘Keener, John C., New Bethlehem, a general merchant, butcher and provision dealer of the borough, was born in Pittsburgh in 1847…[and] settled in Parker in 1868 and became engaged in the butcher business and in 1873 settled in Bethlehem and became engaged in his present business and in 1879, added a general stock of dry goods, etc. He was the son of Sebastian Keener, (James C. Keener of Sligo’s great grandfather)’…Sausage made in the plant is stuffed by compressed air machines which work rapidly…The plant manufacturers at the present time about one ton of bologna each week along with about 1,000 lbs of sausage and liver pudding.” — The Oil City Derrick (1961)
Finally, the son (and grandsons) of 19th century German immigrants founded Kuhner Packing Company and sold Keener Brand Meats in Muncie, Indiana (1904–1945). Again, famous name but no known relationship to me. And Gotlip’s [sic] rich story is beyond the scope of this brief history, so I’ll stop here and just leave you another link and a photo if you’re really interested in how the sausage is made…
Or…perhaps you’re more into vintage apples?
