The Sausage Timeline

9th Century B.C. Sausage, one of the oldest forms of processed food, is mentioned in Homer’s Odyssey.

1st Century A.D. Emperor Nero’s cook is credited with making the first “wiener.”

7th Century A.D. Leontius of Neapolis writes of a “string of sausages” in his book, "The Life and Miracles of Symeon the Fool."

1487 The frankfurter was developed in Frankfurt, Germany. The town celebrated the 500th birthday of the hot dog in 1987.

1690’s The popular sausage known as “dachshund” or “little dog” sausage was created by Johann Georghehner, a German butcher.

1805 The people of Vienna claim to be the birthplace of the hot dog. A master sausage maker who studied in Frankfurt, called his sausage “wienerwurst” – wiener comes from Wein, the German name for Vienna and wurst is German for sausage.

1852 The butcher’s guild in Frankfurt introduced a spiced and smoked sausage packed in a thin casing which they called frankfurter. The frankfurter was also known as dachshund sausage.

1860 Wienerwurst became known as “wienie” in America. Wienies and frankfurters do not become “hot dogs” until someone puts them on a bun. That is credited to German immigrants who sold hot dogs along with milk rolls and sauerkraut from pushcarts in New York City.

1867 Charles Feltman, a German butcher, the first Coney Island hot dog stand.

1880 A German peddler, Antonoine Feuchtwanger, sold hot sausages in St. Louis. He provided white gloves to patrons so they would not burn their hands while eating the sausage. Patrons kept walking off with the gloves. His wife suggested using a split bun instead. He asked his brother-in-law, a baker, for assistance. They developed a long soft roll that fit the meat. The hot dog was born.