Teen Foodies: Let’s Try Corn Dogs

Every year I try to attend one of the many local fairs or festivals in the area in the summer months, an annual tradition I always look forward to. There’s something for everyone at these festivals; merchandise booths, food, live performances, carnival rides, and games. I’ve always loved trying some new, weird and greasy food with a cup of freshly squeezed bitter lemonade- the food is half the fun! While festivals and fairs have been a hotbed for original and unique deep fried dishes and treats alike, none are more iconic than the simple corn dog. But who invented this iconic fairground dish?

Bring your appetite as we serve up different dishes invented in the USA in our Teen Foodies programs this summer, hosted by WPPL’s Teen Librarian, Bethany. For the last Teen Foodies on July 29, we’re diving into an American fairground classic, the corn dog!

What is a “Corn Dog”?

Of the three dishes we’ve had this summer, the corn dog may be the most self-explanatory; a hot dog sausage is dipped in a cornmeal batter and deep fried in oil, served on a stick. Like hot dogs, corn dogs are often served with ketchup or mustard. The golden batter becomes crispy and slightly sweet, contrasting the salty and savory taste of the hot dog inside. Yum!

What is the history behind the “Corn Dog”?

The earliest reference to a hot dog fried on a stick doesn’t come from a restaurant, a cookbook, or a fairground; instead, we can trace it back to a patent filed in 1927. Stanley Jenkins from Buffalo, New York filed for a food-safe apparatus for deep frying and placing a rod or stick in a multitude of different foods, including frankfurters. After Jenkins’ patent was awarded, he lost interest in the device. There’s no evidence that he actually built it or sold any of his deep fried foods he listed as possible dishes, including what we now know as a corn dog.

The actual origin story of the corn dog can be attributed to one hot dog stand and an unfortunately timed rainstorm. Step back to 1939, Labor Day weekend, in Rockaway Beach, Oregon. George and Versa Boyington are running a hot dog stand when a sudden burst of rain ruins their supply of hot dog buns. The couple has to improvise, and fast- coating the hot dogs in a cornmeal batter and deep frying them. Their “Pronto Pups” would be perfected by 1941, when the couple premiered the new dish at the Pacific International Livestock Exposition where over 15,000 Pronto Pups were consumed by hungry customers. “Pronto Pup”‘s franchised food truck can still be visited by hungry customers every year at the Minnesota State Fair.

In 1938, Neil and Carl Fletcher, retired vaudeville performers, start to work a food stand at the Texas State Fair, held annually in Dallas, TX. The brothers are trying to come up with a new menu option, when inspiration hits- a local baker who covered hot dogs in a cornmeal mix and baked them in a corn mold. These proto-corn dogs tasted good, but the process to make them was time-consuming; an easier, faster option must be out there. In 1942, the newly improved “Corny Dogs”, as the Fletcher brothers called them, premiered at the Texas State Fair. Although their version of the dish was initially met with apprehensive customers, the Fletcher’s corny dogs have become a staple dish at Southern fairgrounds.

The Midwest can also credit Cozy Dog Dine-In for their version of the corn dog. Ed Waldmire Jr. was attending Knox College in 1941 when he was introduced to the original corn dog- although it went by a different name. He liked how it tasted, but the process was long and time-consuming (sound familiar, yet?), and he discussed the issues with a fellow student, Don Strand. While Waldmire Jr was stationed in Amarillo, TX five years later, Strand contacted him with a solution; a better batter for these hot dog treats. Waldmire Jr started to make what he called “crusty curs”, and sold thousands while enlisted. When he was honorably discharged in 1946, the “crusty curs” went with him back to Illinois, rebranded to “cozy dogs” and premiered at the Lake Springfield Beach House that summer, and sold at the Illinois State Fair soon after. The cozy dogs were so successful that Waldmire Jr and his wife opened their first standalone restaurant, the Cozy Dog Drive-In, in Springfield, IL in 1946.

Whether you prefer Pronto Pups, Corny Dogs, or Cozy Dogs, it’s undeniable that corn dogs have become a staple across the USA over the past 80 years. I hope you learned something new about corn dogs and the history behind this classic American fairground dish! Teenagers, want to try it out? We’re serving traditional meat, and cheese, corn dogs in the next and final Teen Foodies program on July 29th, registration opens July 22nd.