...With wienies for all

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By Richard Slusser

The humble hot dog has been called a lot of names: wienie, wiener, Wiener wurstchen, Frankfurter wurstel, even dachshund, but however it is disguised or distorted, it's still a hot dog.

What cannot be disputed is the hot dog's popularity. Take this Fourth of July: Americans will consume about 150 million hot dogs. That's no bologna, although the textures are similar, but it is reason to select July as National Hot Dog Month.

During hot dog season, so to speak, from Memorial Day to Labor Day, Americans devour about 7 billion franks, wienies, hot dogs, however they are called or cooked. (They're actually precooked.) That's 818 hot dogs per second during that time.

These consumption facts come from Janet Riley, senior vice president of public affairs for the National Hot Dog & Sausage Council in the District. Miss Riley should know; she is regarded as the "Queen of Wien."

The queen also says the council's research indicates Americans tend to regard the hot dogs they grew up with - maybe at the ballpark they identify with - as the nation's best. She frequently is contacted by people who have moved and are experiencing a loss of cultural identity because they cannot find their favorite brand. She tries to give them a source.

Chances are, most of this July Fourth's 150 million hot dogs will have been made in the Sara Lee's Ball Park.

Sara Lee is touting its natural grain buns to go with its Angus beef franks. Meanwhile, Oscar Meyer is not napping. That company has reformulated its all-beef wienie for the first time in about 20 years. Some folks in the industry are calling this competition the "frank wars." Meatier, juicer and with more flavor is the goal.

For anything from trivia to recipes for hot dogs and sausages, go to hot-dog.org. The recipes run from all-star chili dogs to Yankee grits. Yankee grits? Now there's an oxymoron.

Meanwhile, pass the mustard, please - it's probably French's, the bright yellow one - and here's another helping from the "chances-are" pot, as gleaned from history.com/minisites/fourthofjuly.