National Corn Dog Day

This American treat has an interesting and multicultural history. Corn Dogs can trace their heritage from the sausage makers of Germany and, by extension, those who immigrated to Texas in the United States.

While the state certainly comes with more than its share of hot weather, the Germans who immigrated there weren’t intimidated. They moved there and set up business to sell their sausages.

As it turns out, those German Texans apparently found that their sausages were not well received. Because of this, they decided to be innovative, dipping the sausages in a distinctly American breading (cornbread) and frying them.

The first corn dog on record was documented in 1927, when a patent was submitted to the US Patent Office describing the process of making corn dogs in this way:

I have discovered that articles of food such, for instance, as wieners, boiled ham, hard-boiled eggs, cheese, sliced peaches, pineapples, bananas and like fruit, and cherries, dates, figs, strawberries, etc., when impaled on sticks and dipped in batter, which includes in its ingredients a self-rising flour, and then deep-fried in a vegetable oil at a temperature of about 390 °F [200 °C], the resultant food product on a stick for a handle is a clean, wholesome and tasty refreshment.

Since then, corn dogs have become incredibly popular, especially at events like fairs and county festivals. In addition, they have found a place in everything from school lunches to being served on military vessels like the USS George Washington.

And, of course, frozen versions of the corn dog (on a stick or in bite-sized mini form) can be purchased frozen at the grocery store and then heated up at home. It just goes to show there’s no wrong place to eat a Corn Dog!

In celebration of this simple yet satisfying treat, a Corn Dog Celebration was inaugurated in the United States in 1992. Beginning in Corvallis, Oregon, the first one was a simple gathering of a few folks who wanted to eat corn dogs and watch basketball.

The event grew bigger the following year when it expanded to other cities and included tater tots and beer. Eventually corporate sponsorships came through for the event (Foster Farms, an American foods company, and Jones Soda).

In 2008, the event peaked with nearly 5000 different parties on five continents, including one in Antarctica! Since then, the hype isn’t always quite as high, but this is still certainly a day worth celebrating.