There are many legends that surround the simple hot dog.  Including how it got its name.  One tale says a vendor at the New York Polo Grounds was heard shouting, “get your hot dachshund sausages!”  An illustrator drew a picture of an actual dachshund in a bun with the caption “get your hot dogs.”  Whether that is the birth of the name or not is heavily debated, but the sausage is one of the oldest forms of processed foods.  Homer’s Odyssey mentions it in the 9th Century B.C.  Two German cities, Frankfurt-am-Main and Coburg both wrestle for the birthplace of the frankfurter, but it’s safe to say what we know today as a hot dog has been around for well over 500 years.  At the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1893 visitors couldn’t stop buying sausages sold by vendors because they were inexpensive and easy to carry.  That same year, sausages became standard fare in baseball parks, likely originating in St. Louis by German-born Chris Von de Ahe, owner of the St. Louis Browns.   So, as you enjoy a hot dog this 4th of July, you can tell the tale of the long history of the hot dog.