Hot Dog Day

Hot Dog Day. © Robert Owen-Wahl /pixabay.com / 2006 / CC0 1.0

Hot Dog Day falls on the third Wednesday in July. ^[1]”For at least 20 years, the American Meat Institute and National Hot Dog and Sausage Council (NHDSC) have celebrated National Hot Dog Day on the third Wednesday of July which fell on July 17^th this year (2013). That’s the day of the annual AMI Hot Dog Lunch on Capitol Hill. ” — North American Meat Institute. Is Today National Hot Dog Day? A Look at the Hot Dog Day Mystery. 23 July 2013. Accessed June 2021 at http://blog.meatinstitute.org/2013/07/is-today-national-hot-dog-day-a-look-at-the-hot-dog-day-mystery/

On this day, they sponsor the annual Hot Dog Lunch on Capitol Hill in Washington. All the government people swoop in for a free lunch.

The Council encourages others around America to hold a Hot Dog Lunch as well, and issue sample guidelines that your local mayor can use in proclaiming the day. Events can include making fancy and novelty hot dogs, hot dog eating contests, etc.

Hotdogs ready to go. © Cristina Sikretarya /pixabay.com / 2014 / CC0 1.0

All of July is National Hot Dog Month in America, co-sponsored by the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, headquartered in Washington, DC, and the American Meat Institute (AMI.)

#HotDogDay

See also: Hot Dogs, Hot-Dog du Lac, Montreal Steamies, Michigan Hot Dogs, Chicago Hot Dogs, Coney Island Hot Dogs, Sonoran Hot Dogs, Fast Food Day

Activities for today

Why not celebrate the day by treating someone to a hot dog?

If you want to try something different, then learn about “Hot-Dogs du Lac” and “Montreal Steamies.”

Learn all about the many different types of hot dogs.

Recipes

Onion Sauce for Hot Dogs

History

CooksInfo has found a print reference in 2001 in Fairbanks, Alaska, to National Hot Dog Day occurring in July.

(Click to enlarge) Hot dog fans stick with local brands. Fairbanks Daily News Miner. Fairbanks, Alaska. 22 Jul 2001. Page D-4, col. 1.

In 2004, Emily Nunn of the Chicago Tribune investigated what Hot Dog Day involved:

“In honour of National Hot Dog Day (July 21), I e-mailed the people at the American Meat Institute (AMI) in Washington. They asked me to call the next day because everyone was at the institute’s annual ‘Hot Dog Lunch on the Hill.’

This was not some kind of fly-by-night holiday. In 1967, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce designated July National Hot Dog Month.

Hot Dog Day was a huge success, AMI’s senior vice-president for public affairs, Janet Riley, told me the next day. Free hot dogs, appearances by Hall of Fame pitcher Ferguson Jenkins (of the Cubs), press coverage by CBS, CNN, CNBC and Fox. About a thousand people showed up, including members of Congress, people from agricultural and environmental committees, the cattlemen’s association and the dairy people. But Riley assured me, ‘It’s not a lobbying event.’

It sounded like a blast, and the more Riley talked about Hot Dog Day, the more I looked forward to the celebration next year.

‘When we walk around Washington in the spring, the question is not ‘What’s your position on this important issue?’ It’s ‘Who is going to be there for Hot Dog Day?’ It’s one of the most popular social events on the Hill.’

Unfortunately, I discovered that Hot Dog Day also is an invitation-only party. And since I’m not part of the political world or the hot dog world, I guess I won’t be attending. Which is sad. But it’s nice to know that I’m still free to take out my credit card, buy a cartload of hotdogs from the cornucopia my local grocer has to offer, and throw a Hot Dog party of my very own next July. Do we live in a great country, or what?” — Nunn, Emily. Make it stop! We surrender to the never-ending glut of silly food ‘holidays’. Chicago, Illinois: The Chicago Tribune. Wednesday, 25 August 2004. Page 7-1, col. 1.