Happy Black History Month Factory Family!
Come celebrate with us as we highlight African-American innovation in the Hot Dog world! Did you know there are many origin stories about who invented the words “Hot Dog”? According to Yale Law librarian, Fred Shapiro, he discovered the existence of hot dogs in 1892 in Paterson, N.J. Thomas Francis Xavier Morris, a Black Caribbean man, was one of America’s first hot dogs restauranteurs.
Morris, nicknamed “Hot Dog Morris”, immigrated from Europe to New Jersey and opened a restaurant selling “hot dogs”. Shapiro believes that Morris was one of the pioneers of the current hot dog restaurant industry. “He was the innovator in calling it a hot dog and marketing it that way.” (Shapiro, NPR.org)
The words “Hot Dog” are over 100 years ago! We celebrate “Hot Dog Morris” and others who have help catapult this industry into what it is today!