(machine sound running) (alternative rock music) - [Chris] Though no one in American needs an introduction to the hot dog, many just see it as a wiener in a long bun with mustard and relish
oozing from its sides. But there's so much more to it. Lives are dramatically
affected by the frankfurter every day, from the people who make them to the people who sell them
to the people who eat them. They revel in the ultimate
icon of American fast food. Gerry and I met in seventh grade. We became good friends
hanging out hot dog Johnny's, a hot dog stand in our home town. Johnny's is the perfect roadside stand. It's been around since the 40s, it sits right along the Delaware river and it's always packed
with hot dog lovers. - We only sell hot dogs,
french fries and drinks. That's it. - [Chris] After college,
we went right to work and slowly realized our
post-college soul searching had been lost to dead end jobs. Restless and bored and nearing 30, we longed for a time
much simpler when a trip to the hot dog stand was all we needed to right the wrongs in our lives. It was time for a new adventure. A trip to places unseen where
we could meet the people that lived for the hot dogs in our lives. We bought a van, painted
a logo on the side, and packed it full of film gear. We grabbed our friend Kevin
to come along for the ride and off we were to travel the country in a bright red van with a hot dog on top. We weren't sure who was out there or what we would find but
we knew we were looking for the hot dog in everyone. Because to understand a
bike, you look at its wheels. To understand a wall,
you look at each brick. And to understand America, you
have to look at the hot dog. This is our story. (alternative rock music) American icons are hard to chase so we started at one of the
oldest and best known places. Nathans is the granddaddy
of all hot dog stands and has been there since 1960. It sits right on the boardwalk
and we would go there whenever we could. Gerry loved the hot dogs
there just as much as I did but he couldn't stop eating them, ever. I mean never. - Competitive eating is the
most fundamental sport there is. I mean these days you have all kinds of crazy sports gaining recognition. You have people jumping out of an airplane with essentially a snowboard
or a ski on their feet. Well, I'm not here to denigrate that but that is far afield
from the basic sports of running, swimming, jumping, fighting. These kind of things, lifting. Those sports, the original Olympiad sports are actually removed from the most fundamental sport of all which is eating. The only thing more fundamental, possibly, could be breathing and that doesn't make for much of a sport. But competitive eating is the
most basic thing you can do. It essentially defines how
capable a human you are. This is the one thing
that drives life force, you must eat. And that's why I think people react to it. They're seeing something, they know that this guy is better at
being a human, an animal, than they are. Now I'm putting out a personal
appeal to all Americans if you can eat, if you
have enough what it takes, if you have the capacity, come to us. We can't find you, I can't
go to every town in America and find the athletes. - Hi, can I speak to George Shea, please? I can win. No, George, listen, I'm
in it to win it, okay? - It is more than just a publicity stunt by any stretch of the imagination. It really is an American type of a gladiator type of a contest. (guitar music) - Competitive hot dog
season is that moment in summer that is the best,
the sweetest, the new corn. I have been impressed by the development of the sport over the
past certainly five years, where training techniques
have really grown and the skills have been enhanced. Through a study of the sport, watching the films,
watching the training tapes, I am impressed by the dedication that these kids throw at the sport. - [Chris] No, it's okay, man. Whatever you do, it's good. Don't worry, this is just the beginning. - [Kevin] Let's just begin. - [Chris] Ready? Go. (alternative rock music) - Everybody says, "Oh, I can eat. I can eat three like that,
I have three for lunch. I could easily get 14, 15." It's not true. (alternative rock music) (puking sounds) - I'm never going to win. I'm a loser. - [Chris] You're not a loser. - Yes, I am. - [Chris] You're not a loser. - I'm a loser. - [man] You're not a loser. - I'm a loser.
- [Chris] You're a winner. - Really? - I came here to enter the
Nathans famous hot dog contest. It's been my dream to enter one of these. (alternative rock music) - [Chris] That's great, baby! Nothing's stopping him! Nothing's stopping him! See, buddy? Eat it all! - I don't know if everybody sees this. The aficionados of the sport clearly recognize the beauty of what's going on. Competitive hot dog
eating is physical poetry. You have an Ed Krachie and a Mike DeVito, certainly a Nakajima. They're artists of a
sort and when people see Ed Krachie eat, you see in
him a purity and a truth. You can recognize in his movements, a just a physical grace and truth. The hot dog eating table is his palette. You have to be able to
see this kind of thing. Not everybody can appreciate art. - You know the hot dog eating contest, I think of as a
tongue-in-cheek experience. I think these guys think
of it as something else. - Tomorrows event at Nathans Famous has been run every year since 1916. It is an annual hot dog eating contest and it is an international event. It is 12 minutes long, all
you can eat, free style. - Well, I realize that my consumption rate of 16, 17 hot dogs in 12 minutes is not going to push my over the top. So sacrifice myself, implode, in order to bring the mustard-colored belt of supremacy back to Brooklyn, back to the USA where it belongs. - My mind is not going to listen to what my body's telling me. My body's going to say
stop, I'm not stopping. - But this year, we're clear. We're going to redeem the title
for the USA, for New York. I mean, after all, this is frankfurter hot dog capital of the world, right? - What I hold in my hands is the World Cup of competitive eating, the coveted Mustard-Yellow
International Belt, which goes to the international champion. It is a bejeweled championship belt. No one knows how old it is and no one knows how much it's worth. It is to hot dog eating
what the Faberge eggs were to Tsar Nicholas. For the better part of a century, the title has been held by Americans. However, two years ago, America was dealt a devastating blow when
Hirofumi Nakajima of Japan, wrest the title and the
belt from the United States and took with him, the coveted Mustard-Yellow
International Belt to Japan. - (in foreign language) - Okay, people are
talking about this story on the streets of New York. The idea that a Japanese
guy has held the title for two years, America
wants this title back. - It's history. - As Krachie himself said,
and I tend to concur, he said, Nakajima has to have
a bad day for him to win. And I don't think Nakajima
has a bad day in him. - It's obvious I can eat more than him. If I knew how he did it, I'd be eating 40. - Ed Krachie, I should tell you, never experiences self-doubt. The man is a true professional. The man is at the top of his game. Unfortunately the top of his
game, may not be high enough. - Nah, I'm not going to
rest until I take it back. - These Japanese have trained. They are meticulous and no doubt, they have had special enzyme
agents implanted in them that will dissolve the hot dogs before they even get
through the esophagus area. It is clear that they've gone
through operative procedures to implant enzymes
within the stomach lining to dissolve the food
before it even hits bottom. - (in foreign language) - Aren't these the same people who are responsible for Pearl Harbor? Responsible for taking
Rockefeller Center from us? Would they stop at nothing to take the ultimate sign of machismo, the mustard-colored belt of supremacy? This is jingoism at its finest. We will have veterans of
the Bataan Death March, veterans of the USS
Arizona present tomorrow to just psychologically try to unnerve the men from the land of the rising sun. - Right now, I'm the number one American. And hopefully, I'll be
number one in the world. ♪ Coney Island ♪ ♪ Opens up today ♪ ♪ The summer's coming ♪ ♪ So put that booze away ♪ ♪ Keep going and drive til ♪ ♪ Those rides are moving fast ♪ ♪ and rides ♪ ♪ And they're having such a blast ♪ ♪ I'm warning you ♪ ♪ Don't go in the Hell Hole ♪ ♪ Let's go to Coney Island ♪ ♪ Let's go to Coney Island ♪ ♪ Let's go to Coney Island ♪ ♪ Have ourselves a ball ♪ ♪ Let's go to Coney Island ♪ ♪ Let's go to Coney Island ♪ ♪ Let's go to Coney Island ♪ - And I urge you now, do not push yourself and make yourself sick. Please, don't. Please don't make yourself sick. If you're feeling woozy or
whatever, don't push too far. 11 o'clock, they'll rush
you in like rock stars. (rock music) - What's my best?
- Yeah. - Fooling around, I ate 13. It was a complete joke, I had a full pizza before 13 hot dogs. - I just eat, just bite-by-bite. - I'm just going up there and shoving hot dogs down my throat. - Inhale, buddy. - These guys take it very seriously. At the same time, they
understand that it's a contest. That there is a promotion to it. That certainly they personally
get some publicity out of it. But quite honestly, you really do see them put on a game face as the contest starts to tick down to the starting time. (rock music)
(crowd cheers) ♪ And the home of the brave ♪ (crowd cheering) (dramatic music) - Eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one and they're off! (crowd cheering)
(rock music) ♪ The ways you're thinking ♪ ♪ I need anything less ♪ ♪ I got high hopes I guess ♪ ♪ I see my name in shiny lights ♪ ♪ Yes, we're live tonight ♪ - [Announcer] Ladies and gentlemen, Nakajima has 14 hot dogs and buns. Ed "The Animal" Krachie,
American champion, has 13, one in the air.
(crowd cheering) One in the air! ♪ Got the world in the ♪ ♪ Palm of my hands ♪ ♪ Yeah, I'm your man ♪ (announcer drowned out by
music and background noise) ♪ All the things I left behind ♪ ♪ I'm living life ♪ ♪ And yes, I'm loving it fine ♪ ♪ Oh, I love the life ♪ ♪ I live it now ♪ ♪ I live it obvious ♪ ♪ I live it proud ♪ - Ladies and gentlemen, 10, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Now you can put down your hot dogs. (crowd cheering) ♪ Wonderful ♪ - He came here to claim his title, world record holder, Hirofumi Nakajima. (crowd cheering) - (in foreign language) - [Announcer] Hirofumi
Nakajima, ladies and gentlemen. - Heads were hung low. Three defeats in a row
is a clear indication that we have lost our supremacy in the world of competitive eating. I think that Ed is a great competitor. I think that he's a great athlete. I think he could beat
almost anybody but himself. Now he has said he is retired and I believe that he will not return. Ed will be appointed to the board of The International Federation
of Hot Dog Eating. A position suitable of what
he's given to the sport. I think that we will see the
30-hot-dog-and-bun milestone fall and that'll be a great moment, for not only, I hope America, I hope it's an American
champion, but for the sport. - Feel pretty good, I
could go on the Cyclone. (Jazz music) - Well, all the guys on the team, they call me Hot Dog, they
call me all kinds of names. I was the brunt of all
their antics, you know. But it's a funny thing, even
growing up in our neighborhood, everybody, all these men
had different push carts with the hot dogs. And the big thing was
going to Columbus Circle in New York City and they
had hot dog stands there. And you could eat all the
hot dogs and sauerkraut, five cents a piece. And you know what you got? Free lemonade. Now you don't remember that
but now I'm going back to like 1930, maybe 34, 35. And the money was burning in our pockets, we couldn't wait until we
got to the hot dog stand. (rock music) - (Chris) Gerry's news
clip got us some attention. And calls came in from around the country. Suddenly everyone thought they had a hot dog story to tell. (rock music) Phil in Boston had
started a hot dog festival 10 years earlier and we were on our way. We began a trip that would
span the whole country. (rock music) - [Eddie] May 23, 1999
will be the 10th year of the Hot Dog Safari. It has grown every year for 10 years. - Welcome to Hot Dog Safari, everyone. - And the hot dog is all
American, all the way. I'm Captain Lou, baby,
and I'll tell it to you. It's the Hot Dog Safari. I feel so good, so proud, and so elated to be at the Hot Dog Safari! (yells) - Frank Deford, the great
writer, had a daughter, Alex, who died from cystic fibrosis. At that time, Frank and his wife, had studied so they could
take care of their daughter knowing that Alex couldn't live beyond the age of 14 or 15. And you know, I said to myself, "Jeez, we ought to do
something for cystic fibrosis because it's the third
largest killer of children in the United States. And I think if we tied
up the fun of a hot dog, the fun of licking an ice cream cone, the fun of seeing masses of
people and kids wide-eyed and tie that into a charity,
it would reach people. - Start at one end. Start at one end and
just work our way down. Let's start at this far end. It's 9:00 am. - [Eddie] We now have
practically every major brand of hot dog at the Hot Dog Safari, and people have gotten to
know some of the brands. - I just had six Brill Breads. - You had six? - Yeah and one Hebrew Nash. (speaker drowned out by background noise) - [Eddie] We sell a ticket for $10. The whole $10 goes to cystic fibrosis. I think at the end of the
fourth year, or the third year, it just became so big we had to have experienced people who
could feed that many troops. And Massachusetts National
Guard has been fabulous. - Right here, that's the
rate we're selling it. Blessed and kosher. - (laughs) The rabbi will be here too? Do you work for Empire? You're like a private kosher contractor? - Right, right. - This is your combat training, keeping a cool head. (speaker drowned out by background noise) Have that cooking, go get his stuff. You know, most people
would probably freak out. 100 thousand hot dogs, 20 guys. - No, they're good, this is
when they keep level heads. - A rottweiler, doberman pinscher, uh oh, I don't know who he is. - I love hot dogs and beans. I love hot dogs plain. I love hot dogs and chili. Hot dogs, chili and sauerkraut. Hot dogs anything, anything you got it on, give me a hot dog, I love hot dogs. Woo hoo! So good! - It does my heart good and everybody else to see a true family event
with everybody smiling but the real important issue here is not only for people
to have a good time. But for an awareness of what
you can do with your money to help conquer children's diseases. - We need to get out of
here so I can dump this in the trash somewhere. (laughs) (rock music) - My father bought the place
in 1950 off of two sisters named the Callahan sisters. And the Callahan sisters had
it for around six years before and they use to sell
little hot dogs back then. And Hiram's was here
for around six or seven years before that. Matter of fact, my father worked with the original owner of Hiram's. - The place, from my understanding,
was established in 1932. The original owner was a Mason and one Mason calls another Mason Hiram, so that's the reason
why that name is here. I'm the third owner and I came in 1958. So I've been in business
here for 40 years. - People come from all over and come here. Right from the airport, they'll say, "I just got in from California and this was the first place we came to." We hear that many times. - We're famous in Bergen county but take out of Bergen county, no one's heard of Hiram's. That's a whole thing. - Well, unique about Callahan's? Now, I'm prejudiced but I think
we have excellent service. I think we have a top-quality product. - I haven't got the
slightest idea what's unique about this place.
- [interviewer] So why do people keep coming back? - I don't know why, as long
as they keep on coming back. I don't know what the
reason is but they do. - People try to make a rivalry because they can't understand why the two places are side-by-side for so many years but it's
just a unique situation. - You know Macy's on 34th
and Gimbels was on 33rd and they got along okay, I guess. And they made out pretty good. (rock music) - I've eaten hot dogs, I
guess, all over the world. In fact, I was in Prague and Yugoslavia and I said to the girl,
oh they were great too, I says, "I want two on one
bun, the bun's fattening." And she goes, "What the
hell you talking about?" (rock music) - We've got about 1,200
people coming tomorrow to Capitol Hill. We have this event every year, celebrates National Hot Dog Month . You can barely get a 100 lawmakers for a roll call vote on Capitol Hill. But you serve them some hot dogs and you bring in some
major league ballplayers and they turn out in droves. - I always look forward
to getting my baseball and eating a hot dog. - We're having 4,300 hot dogs tomorrow and that's enough to circle
the Capital Dome four times. - I had one former speaker
of the house say to me, I get more members at the hot dog lunch than he gets at a forum call on the floor of the House of Representatives. (laughs) - Why did you come to this event? - I enjoy it every year, coming here. It's good to see the many
meat producers of hot dogs. It's good to taste each
and every one of them. Principally, the reason
I came to today was won out of hunger but it's
been satisfied very tastefully. - How many hot dogs did you eat today? - Well, I only had one today so far. But I expect to have another one before I go back and preside on the floor. - I'm Congressman Dan Schaefer from the state of Colorado. - How do you feel about
the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council? That they're doing this whole-- - Yes, I know who they are. - [woman] We've been doing it for decades but we didn't bring
ball players until 1991. And I'd say that the lunch was transformed once we brought the ballplayers in. - [interviewer] Well, it's hard to imagine a baseball game without
a hot dog isn't it? - Well, shucks, anytime
we got to baseball games, football games you know a
hot dog's just a natural to go along with it. - [Gerry] You like hot dogs? - Well, I eat them occasionally. I don't eat them for
breakfast, lunch and dinner but we have them
occasionally here and there. Especially at the ballpark, whenever I got to the
ballpark I'll eat a dog. - So America's favorite
past time is baseball and America's favorite
munch to a company baseball is clearly an American hot dog. (electronic tune) ♪ Hot dog ♪ ♪ Fat kids ♪ ♪ Skinny kids ♪ ♪ Kids ♪ - We have to weed out Capitol Hill interns who are looking for a free lunch. It's an invitation only event and you can't imagine what we go through to control the crowds. - Is there any problem of protests at this event? Like I said, they asked when we came in, if we were the pro or con meat people. - Well, the pro's are the
overwhelming majority. - Yeah, I think the great
thing about the market place is that there are tofu dogs for about 5% of the population who
may choose to eat them. And then there are meat hot dogs for about the 95% of the population that choose to eat meat hot dogs. - But there are some
groups who want to deny people the choice of enjoying
this wonderful meat product. - Actually, they dressed women in little lettuce leaf bikinis And they're called their lettuce ladies. and they were enticing the lawmakers to try these tofu hot dogs. - If you think eating pig
lips, spleens, intestines of animals hold some sort
of American tradition, I think we need to move away from that. - So you feel that by showcasing
yourself in a certain way that it's going to promote vegetarianism? - It's good for you, good for the animals, good for your love life. - Good for your love life in what way? - Eating meat and fat clogs arteries. And it clogs arteries to all your organs. - There's significantly fewer vegetarians who are impotent than not meat eaters. - Now what would you say if, every since I started this
documentary about hot dogs my sex drive has increased? - (laughs) I don't know why that is. I guess being around
phallic symbols all the time really would get you going. - So would you date a meat eater? - (laughs) Do you have a card? - Yes, I've run out of cards. Quick, give me a card. Quick, everyone has the cards. (electronic tune) ♪ Hot dog ♪ ♪ I'm her hot dog ♪ ♪ The taste kids love to bite ♪ (rock music) - As cute as she was, wearing lettuce outfits just
seems a bit extreme to me. Okay, she didn't call either. But we pressed on, heading
west across the country to a great hot dog place, where the idea of long term employment isn't an outdated idea. (rock music) - [Gerry] Chris, where are we going? - Ohio. (rock music) - [Chris] Oh my god. - [Gerry] That is so cool. (rock music) - I originated this back in the war. I'd just got out of the service. But I remember selling
hot dogs for 12 cents in them days and that's
when meat was hard to get. We decided on hot dogs or knick knacks. So we did one side knick knacks, one side hot dogs and we ended up selling $22 worth of hot
dogs at 12 cents a piece back in 46. We throwed everything
else and we continued on. Really did a great job on that. We're surrounded all by good people, good brothers, good people. - I guess I've been in
it for about 40 years. - How long have you been here? - 27 years. - 25 years. 10 years in September. - It's been about 20 years. - I've been here 40 years tomorrow. - I've been with these
fellas since 61, 62. - All of your employees seem
to be long term employees. They all stick around for,
I think it's very unique for a restaurant most of the time. Can you explain why? A lot of people stick around,
they love working here. Anyone? (laughs) - Need a burger, please. ♪ Is it you, is it you ♪ ♪ Is it you, is it you ♪
- For us, it's got to be the chili sauce. The chili sauce is just
something that people crave. You know, Larry has got
this down to a science. You can tell by just
how Larry does things. It's just perfect. He's perfected his skill and his art. - They leave me alone, they just let me do my thing. We haven't killed anybody yet. ♪ Is it you, is it you ♪ ♪ Is it you, is it you ♪ ♪ Is it you, is it you ♪ ♪ Is it you, is it you ♪ - After 25 years, I
still eat them every day. I'm not tired of them,
even after 25 years. ♪ Is it you, is it you ♪ - I just got married today so we came here for lunch. (laughs) - You just got married today? - Yeah, this morning. - Wow, so this is like a reception? - Yeah, I guess. (laughs) - Kevin, eat. - [Kevin] Must film. - Kevin, eat. You must eat in order to film. - Seven days without a
hot dog makes one weak. ♪ Amazing grace ♪ ♪ How sweet the sound ♪ - This is really like the heart of America and what's it's all about, I think. It just happens to be in hot dogs. ♪ And saved a wretch like me ♪ ♪ I once was lost but now I'm found ♪ - The product is made fresh. That hot dog that you order right now is made specifically for you. It takes a lot, a lot of work. ♪ I was blind but now I see ♪ - This is really like the heart of life. ♪ That taught my heart to fear ♪ ♪ And grace my fears relieved ♪ ♪ How precious did ♪ ♪ That grace appear ♪ ♪ The hour I first believed ♪ (soft guitar music) - We put together hot
dogs and other things, chips and cookies, but hot
dogs are the main course. And we go down on the
inner city of Columbus, in kind of a poor area near the shelter and we feed outside of the open shelter. Everybody knows us as
that, the hot dog people. I'd kind of had a burden for
the people on the street. And a lot of the people
that really needed the help seemed like they were outside the church. They weren't inside the church. I felt a burden to go
out into the streets. When we first started though, we were just kind of
pooling our money together. Just kind of struggled for a while to get, to do it every week. You never know if you have
enough money for the next week. - John's done it for, he'll be going on, I think, five years. Consistently, he's never missed a Tuesday. Never has missed one. And the pastor asked
him one time, he said, "Are you going tonight?
Maybe you shouldn't go." Because it was almost blizzard conditions. And John said, "Those guys count on me and I'm going to be there." And he went. - I start off, pretty
much early in the morning because I got a lot of different places that I go pick up stuff that's donated. And they give me their, the
cakes and pies and stuff that they pull of the shelf that day. I go over to the church and
I drop all that off there. I get there at nine and I
take a time out for prayer. I just drop the stuff off in the kitchen and I go pray for about
an hour, nine to 10. And then I come back out and make sure everything's
set up for the ladies. Then I go on over to the food bank. I order stuff there that's been donated
from large corporations. From there, I usually go by ALDIs. I buy the bun length hot dogs there. When I get back to the church, the ladies usually already got it started. And I jump and help, either
unload my van and my stuff and then help them get stuff cut up. I leave there, I'm usually
pretty much putting the stuff together here. Getting ready when she
gets home, about 2:20. Then she jumps in and starts
helping get stuff ready. Then we have a few people
from the neighborhood and from our church, that come to help wrap up
the hot dogs and stuff. I've always told people, I said, I'm not going to give somebody
something I wouldn't eat. I've heard some pretty
nasty stuff that people got. We like it, we eat these
same hot dogs ourselves and we live them. Even though they're a
pretty economical price that we get them for, it has a good taste. - Yeah, they're real good hot dogs. - This goes to the first shelter. It's the first batch which is 200. My dad was an alcoholic most of his life. Right before he died, he got cleaned up and he started on his own halfway house. And he was helping people,
run AA meetings and stuff. And at that time, I was doing my own running around and drinking. You know why this was going on and when I realized it, that
wasn't where I was happy. You know some people
say, "Well, you're doing just kind of like what your father did." In a kind of a sense and I see that. - They just take help,
hope and hot dogs. (laughs) Those things all go together. They go down to people who have no hope. That are living a day at a time, an hour at a time, and fill their stomachs with hot dogs and share the gospel with them. - There's been times when we went and we fed under the bridges. When it's night and it's
starting to get dark and you walk out and you see this skyline. You see the city of Columbus
and see all the money. There's the city of Columbus but yet there's someone
sleeping under the sidewalk. It's just kind of a wild
contrast to see the two. This whole area is dead set against the shelter not being there. Like anything else, move
it to somebody else's town. All they see is the negative. They see the drinking but they don't see the people that I meet. (piano music) I'd like to be in full
time street ministry where I can put all of my effort, all of our effort together. I really want to continue
doing just what we do. I think with all the
people and the help we got we'll be able to do it all. (piano music) - [Gerry] Chris.
- [Chris] Yes? - [Gerry] Did you
understand the consequences of drilling holes in the roof of your van? - That it might leak? I was prepared for the consequences and the ramifications of drilling holes in the roof, yes. (mumbles) I was worried that the bolts on that hot dog were coming off. (door slams)
(rock music) - [Al] You think of Indiana,
you think of farm country. And you think of agriculture, industrial, things of this nature. - [Nicole] You think of the
500, you think of cornfields, you think of everything but hot dogs. - [Al] Most every community
of every size has a festival. There's a gazillion festivals
throughout the summer and fall in Indiana. - [Nicole] And we thought what could we do to make a festival here
in Frankfurt that's unique to Frankfurt, Indiana. So we brainstormed and we thought, probably our best asset is our name. - [Al] Why not have a hot dog festival because at one time
Frankfurt was known for being a producer of many hot dogs. - Selected the last week in July which is National Hot Dog Week. - But being based in Frankfurt, Indiana, home of the might fighting Hot Dogs, it was just a given that this has to be the hot dog festival. - This festival, it hangs
on the word hot dog. - First year we started out,
was simply a Saturday festival. Started with basic hot dog trivia and hot dog related events. And each year the festival has grown. And there must be something to hot dogs because they just keep coming back. - Why can people have a hot dog festival? Tons of thousands of people come. - Because this place has been known as the hot dogs from day one, I guess. - [man] Serve about eight to
10 thousand hot dogs tomorrow. - [Nicole] We have atomic
dogs and Polish dogs and-- - Why are they called atomic dogs? - They got jalapeno peppers on them. - [Nicole] We had half pound
dogs and quarter pound dogs and you name it, we got it. - [interviewer] What
you gearing up to eat? - Big old footlong. - Footlong hot dog with coney sauce on it. - Same thing, footlong. - You have to remember
that we are in the Midwest. And we're in pork and beef country. If we were in LA, a tofu
dog might work (laughs) but in Frankfurt, Indiana, there just hasn't been a
need for it yet. (laughs) - It's great. This is an opportunity,
we using as our church. We're calling it the Fay family pit stop. - You be preaching any
sermons related to the hot dog or the hot dog festival? - I've yet to find that one in the Bible, anything about hot dogs. - I think it's in Revelations. - Oh, okay, well, I'll
have to research that before Sunday morning. - I got this hot dog cinnamon gum, man. I never had any of this. (clapping) - [interviewer] Any world
records broken today? - Not that I know of.
- Not that I know of. - [interviewer] For the fastest
buns or anything like that? - Nicest looking buns, how about that? - [interviewer] Nicest looking buns. Who won that competition? Me? (women laugh) - Of course, yeah. - What channel are you guys with? - [interviewer] We're doing a documentary about hot dogs in America. - Oh no. - [interviewer] Has
anyone broke any records since we last saw you? - No.
- No, no record. - [interviewer] And I
still have the cutest buns? - Yes. -
- Yes, you do. - But everything we do, we try
to point towards the hot dog. For example, the food,
of course are hot dogs. - [Nicole] We will always serve hot dogs, all kinds of hot dogs,
at our hot dog festival. - The one thing that we
wanted to make sure of when we started this festival was that we tried to have something for everybody. - [Announcer] Look at
that one. Three, four. One, two, three, go, Kyle! (rock music) - We want activities that would be beneficial to all ages of people. - [Gerry] This is the first
time bobbing for wieners? - Oh yeah. Yeah, sure is. - The flirty connotations
of this whole event just, it's unavoidable. Can you describe the experience to us? - Cold and slithery, like little snakes. - This is peep show material. - [Al] We have activities for the kids, we have activities for teenagers, we have activities for the older folks. - [Chris] You think that
the big guy dressed up like the big weenie's
going to get out of control or anything like that? - Let's hope not, I'd hate
to have to take him to jail. - $15 buy a movie t-shirt. $15. - [Nicole] Two years ago we expanded it to a Friday night festival as
well as our Saturday festival. Have hot dog, hot dogs, hot dogs and country line dancing all evening. (country music) - You don't know how excited we were when you called us, and I'm
saying that from the heart. We thought, "Man, this is great." And we spread the word
about you folks coming and we couldn't be more excited because it means a lot to
us, it makes us feel good. (calm guitar strumming) - I've never eaten a piece of sea food, chicken or turkey in my life. But I've eaten a lot of
hot dogs, cheeseburgers, salami, bologna. They tell you everything,
that's bad for you. I eat other food, like I like, but I like hot dogs the best. (rock music) - [Monique] Hot dogs are
definitely a trademark typical of Chicago. - [interviewer] How many hot dogs are sold here every year? - Oh gosh, over 2 million
a year and that's about a little over five thousand a day. I guess it's because we're
the world's busiest airport. We've got over 185 thousand passengers coming through O'Hare daily. So five thousand hot dogs a day for 185 thousand passengers a day, I guess that's about right. (laughs) - [interviewer] Is there a lot of vendors? Is it mostly just carts? - We have a lot of carts throughout the concourses
and the terminals. (rock music) - [interviewer] Can we interview you about hot dogs are O'Hare airport? Okay. (rock music) - [Chris] Are there a lot
of hot dogs sold here? - I haven't seen one goddamn hot dog. - Where you going? (rock music) - [Gerry] What's so special about hot dogs at O'Hare airport? - They're the best. - [Gerry] They're the best? There's not a lot of hot dog carts here. I've been walking around for like an hour. I imagine if you sell 2
million hot dogs a year, you'd have to at least have 10 carts. Sure, she's quick but
that's a lot of hot dogs. - She's very fast. - Right here, 500 thousand
hot dogs a year, is her. According to the Hot
Dog and Sausage Council, over 2 million hot dogs
are sold here every year. According to the inside, the account we got from a vendor, she does sell 500
thousand hot dogs a year. There is a secret grill, maybe that's where the
make the most hot dogs. I think that was on concourse A. If I was, you know, working the runways I'd get pretty hungry too. So there's one barbecue
pit, four hot dog stands, 2 million hot dogs a year. Who knew. (rock music) - [Chris] Bob Schwartz?
- [Gerry] Yeah. Don't worry. [Kevin] Few comments, please? Few comments-- - The directions that were on Gerry's lap have now blown under the car. - Chicago has been the
home of The Inner Beef for 105 years now. We started way back in 1893
at the Columbian Exposition. When we had two Austrian immigrants that came over to show their wares. And their wares included a
line of sausage products, that they aptly named Vienna Beef. - On this side is our
domestic fresh bull meat and this is the richest kind of meat that you can have because
it is higher in protein, lower in fat, richer in color and this is one primary
ingredient that we use for our hot dogs. The other primary ingredient that we use are the choice trimmings,
which you see over here, that are trimmed off of the briskets. The sweet briskets that
we use for our deli meats. It's the combination of
bull meat, trimmings, seasons and spices, and we
will end up with the hot dog emulsion that they'll end
up stuffing into a casing. They're preparing that same sausage to go into the smokehouse. Once it's in the smokehouse, we cook it under hardwood
hickory smoke conditions, all natural smoke conditions. We've been making it that way
since our company started. During the depression, obviously people didn't
have a whole lot of money. And what they were looking
for was the fast food meal for a small amount and
the hot dog created that. The Chicago-style hot dog, where people could get
their hot dog, mustard, onions, relish, tomatoes,
pickles and they created a meal on a bun. Sort of dragging it through
the garden, as you will. Chicagoland area is just
inundated with hot dog stands and there are more so
than most of all the other fast food chains combined. There are close to two
thousand hot dog operations of which we service between 1,500 an 1,600 hot dog stands right now. - Really, we've taken the lowly hot dog, and we've made it a star
and put it center stage. - If I could make one ingredient that I could put on my hot dogs it would be nostalgia. Everything else is easy but the nostalgia is the one ingredient you can't buy. - It works out well and Chicago
just took a loving to it. People in Chicago, they
order by the dozens. They hit you hard for dogs in Chicago. (rock music) - They're telling us that
guy goes to Superdawg. Like three standing plates. (rock music) - Set this thing? The contra or the on? - [Kevin] On. (rock music) Did you take the lens cap off? - Yeah. (laughs) - When we opened that first day, Sunday, May the 8th of 48, took in $20 and said we're on our way. We opened with the name,
figures on the roof, took my Flory out of a
hot, stuffy school room where she'd been teaching in the Chicago Public School system. Put her in this magnificent edifice that was 20 feet by 12 feet. Even today, we are the only place in the Chicago area still
providing in-car service. - And when we go away, we eat an enormous amount
of hot dogs when we're out. Tasting, sampling, seeing. - A porcupine is not really
a very attractive creature except to another porcupine. And we happen to get very, very excited sensuously by hot dogs. - [Gerry] Yeah, thank you for that. - Mustard, relish, onions,
pickles, that's everything. You can have hot peppers. We ask the customers if
they want hot peppers. Now do you want all of that on your dog? - [Kevin] Can I eat now? - Yeah, you can eat now. (laughs) - [Kevin] Come on! (easy rock music) - [Gerry] Oscar Mayer won't
grant us any interviews to any executives or anything. - I don't understand that. I don't know, I mean we're
not talking about the CIA. We're talking about hot dogs,
the most basic of fun foods. And part of America. - [Chris] It was just a hot dog. I mean, ever since we started shooting, Oscar Mayer had been avoiding us. - Guards (drowned out by
background noise) castle. - [Chris] At this point,
we had had enough. It was time to make our presence known. - [woman] Hi Chris, this is from Brazil. I represent Oscar Mayer and
I was returning your call. I would be interested in hearing more about your project but generally, Oscar Mayer, actually,
unequivocally, does not allow cameras into their premises. - It's Oscar Mayer all right. Kevin, what do you want to do today? - Nothing legal. I think they have enough
business cards here. (rock music) (Gerry laughing)
- At least then, all you're going to get is a ticket for littering. - I know, yeah, they
have my number. (laughs) All right, let's get out of here. (rock music) - [Chris] After clashing
with the corporate giants, we need to get back to basics and hang with the more personal crowd. A homey family version of manufacturing. - [Gerry] It's a freaking
castle, look at that! - Our great grandfather
started the company in 1880. When he was growing up, he decided that he wanted to become a wurst maker, or sausage maker. He ended up leaving Germany with about $400 in his pocket and these recipes and came over to America
and settled in Milwaukee because of the strong German population that was present in the city. He ended up going to work
for a woman, Mrs. Garretner, who had a butcher shop. And the shop is located right downstairs where our retail store is. - Sausage really is the
first convenience food that was ever invented. Hundreds and hundreds of years ago, it was a way to preserve
meat and keep it around so it wouldn't spoil. It's also a convenience item because it's already precooked, all
you have to do is heat it and it's ready to go. The product has not changed
in four generations. It's a handmade product. It's in a natural casing. It's smoked over hardwood fires. So it is really a unique
item in today's world of high volume, mass produced products. Sausage, I think, has
got lots of protein in it and it's got lots of
vitamins and nutrients. It's a good food. I'm a pretty slim guy and
I eat a lot of sausage. - In Germany, it's very much a tradition that the elves would
always finish the work that people didn't finish during the day, they would finish at night. When we were little and growing up, coming down to visit, we were always looking for elves. The sixth floor is our attic, that's where they really like to hang out and you have to listen
and you can hear them. - Cool. - Cool, way cool. - [Chris] Aces. Oh look, they're a
member at the boys club. - [Kevin] Come see all
of our special magazines. (men laughing) - I don't even know
what the hell's in them, all I know is I like them. And what I like, I'm going to eat. I don't have to have protein
and iron and all that stuff. (rock music) - [Gerry] Yeah, I think it's done. - Yeah, bastard. (Gerry laughs)
(rock music) - Chris Patak is with us
today, so is Gerry Beyer. They're movie types from New York who are doing a look at the hot dog. Chris, can one say with absolute certainty that the hot dog was
invented or discovered at the 1904 world's fair in St. Louis? - That's pretty much the accepted history. It was the marrying of
the bun to the hot dog. - So the hot dog was coined in 1906. What did they call the sandwich
in 1904 at the world's fair, if indeed they served it at all? - You know the phrase
frankfurter was coined way before that just having
come from Frankfurt, Germany. You know, the actual image and the hot dog of the frankfurter on the roll,
happened here in St. Louis. - You can't sell it outside on a cart east of Tucker Boulevard
in downtown St. Louis. Although Charlie Santangelo,
with the aid of his lawyers, has figured out a way to
do that in Kiener Plaza. - I mean, it's against
the law to sell a hot dog in St. Louis, downtown St. Louis. You say, "What do you
mean it's against the law? You can do everything else
and you can't sell a hot dog?" I'm originally from New York. I've been working in the
restaurant business for 23 years. And that was ludicrous that here where they started the hot dog you couldn't buy one in the city. So I spoke to my lawyer and he says, let's see what the law doesn't say. And so he read the law and picked at it. He says, well, it doesn't say you can't be in a public park. We settle on Kiener Plaza
which is about two blocks north of the Arch. So I got every permit I needed, got down there first day, opened up and I've been successful ever since. - It kind of reminds you
of Chicago or New York when you walk out and there's
a hot dog stand outside. - [Charlie] I mean, I don't break the law, I just push the umbrella, let's say. - Tough to beat the now famous Woofie dog here in St. Louis. As a matter of fact, we have a representative
from Woofie's with us today, wearing the Woofie's t-shirt. - I worked for a street
department for 12 years. Then I cut grass on my own for 10. And then I bought a hot dog stand. You see the natural
progression of things there? It is unbelievable how
crowded this place gets. The whole dining room will be packed. They'll be people lined out the door, lined up around the building
through the drive-thru. My daughter and my wife work here. - They're talking about painting my room orange and yellow, so I've had a little bit enough about Woofie's. - My husband said, "How hard can it be to run a hot dog stand?" (laughs) - I think my wife got me this place so I'd have something to do
and she can track me down. I knew I didn't know
what I was getting into but I really didn't know
what I was getting into. - Chris, you're on KMOX. - [Chris] Hey good morning to you. - Good morning, Chris. - [Chris] I'm really
interested in hot dogs myself. I like them so much, I built a giant hot dog on a bun bicycle. I don't know if you've seen
me motoring around St. Louis. Eight foot bun, 10 foot hot dog. - [Gerry] Where are you? Where are you right now? (laughs) - [Chris] Me and my bike are in Soulard and if you want a picture or whatever. - [Charles] Are you in Soulard? - [Chris] You can ride
it around if you like. It's a three seat. This is Willy the wiener. He's a hot dog on a bun. The bun is eight feet long and the hot dog is 10 feet long. A friend of mine really wanted the wiener mobile to come
to an event she was having and couldn't get it. So I promised her that
I would make a hot dog on a bun on a bicycle for her. It's been all over the country. And the people's dog, bringing smiles to
people wherever I can go. And it was really unexpected,
the response from people. I knew it was a little bit phallic but I had no idea how the
women would react to it. I even had a woman flash the wiener. But it's only a certain
type of woman though. One that's experienced and she knows what she wants, she's not shy. She'll come up and say, "I
want to sit on your wiener." (rock music) I was hoping to carry beer in it. - (laughs) You always have to have a place for your beer on your bike,
that's what I always say. (rock music) - [Chris] Any anticipations
for the Lucky Dog shoot? - I think we're going to get the definite flavor of New Orleans. I think New Orleans is
one of the most unique cities of America, there's no other town like New Orleans. (relaxing music) - This is the big sleazy. Everybody comes and everybody thinks their story's original. - In 1947, two brothers,
Steven and Erasmus Loyacano, started Lucky Dogs. And they owned it until 1970
when Doug Talbot bought it. (relaxing music) - Okay, have a big bite. - We are one of the
traditions of this city. - We walk slow, we talk
slow, and we work slow and then we party hardy at night. (laughs) - No days are the same,
every day's different. The type of workers we have are transient, they may drift in for a day, work for six or seven
months and then be gone and show back up three
or four years later. - I've been with Lucky
Dogs, I was with them from 77 through 84 and then I came back in the summer of 94 and started again. - Jim worked for us back in the 70s when you had the hippie generation, the flower children in the quarter. And Jim was a part of
that and then Jim left us after a number of years
and went to California for approximately 10 years. - I think that's one of the reasons I want to get back out on the street. Is I really didn't enjoy
being in an office that much. - He said working for
Lucky Dogs in the quarter was like being at Woodstock every day. And he said, "I'm coming home." And I said, "Jim, don't do this. You've got a home, you've got everything you want out there." He said, "Jerry, I'm coming home." And the phone clicked and it was about seven or eight days later, Jim was back. Working a hot dog cart on the same corner he had worked 10 years before. - [Gerry] How many days
a week do you work? - I don't know, depends on
my moods really. (laughs) (Gerry laughs) - [Jerry] A lot of these guys have been carnival workers in the past or they have worked at concession stands in football stadiums. Normally, they would
have nothing in common but working the street together, they develop a camaraderie
that you normally would not see. I mean, we are about as equal an opportunity employer as you can find. But you have to realize these are guys that are selling hot dogs on one of the wildest streets in North America. Everybody on the street's
partying and drinking. And you're asking them to go out there and remain sober and not drink in a total partying atmosphere. And there's very few
people who can do that. - It gets hectic sometimes. You really don't have time to think. You're just serving and trying to remember what the people want on their hot dogs and how they want it. - [Jerry] The Quarter's an exciting place for them to work. It's partying but they're being paid while they party on the street. - This is Bourbon Street, you know. Music, sex, rock and roll. - And if the film doesn't work, I've got corners for all
of your, come on back. (Jazz music) - This is the pathway to the jungle. You're doing a fine job, you can get a job as a roach. - [Gerry] A real roach? - A real roach. - [Gerry] Thank you, sir. - Of course, real roaches
come out at night. - [Chris] What is a roach actually? - There's only a few of
us that call them roaches and I started it. Just basically, the guys who are out here, they're only livelihood is what they can hustle off the street. And they're people that
we depend on to see every single day that we're out here. They don't burn us, except very rare occasions
when they're too drunk. (jazz music) - [Gerry] The everlasting
party of New Orleans wiped us out. Looking for a recharge we drove towards the setting sun, ready for whatever the west coast had to offer. - [Chris] We're detouring. We're going through deja vu. - Deja vu? Been there before? (rock music) - The company was founded
by Dave Barham in 1946. He opened his first
location in Santa Monica on the boardwalk. Most of his stores went into malls. Our hot dogs are made
to order, they're fresh. It's on a stick, so it's got a little tool that it's easy to eat and go. Annually we sell about six
and a half million hot dogs. It's a fun environment,
we have fun colors, we have great lemonade. (woman laughs) Girl's got power. (rock music) They love attention. (laughs) why do you think they wear
the uniforms? (laughs) (rock music) It tastes like hickory. Do you like it?
You don't like it. - It's good.
- You're making faces. - No, I'm not. - Oki-Dog been here for 20 years. Oki stand for Okinawa, we from Okinawa, which is Japan. We specialize, it's called Oki-Dog, two hot dogs, chili cheese, pastrami, it's wrapped in a flour tortilla. It's very unique items you can't get nowhere else but here. Japanese eat the rice,
like American people eat the hot dog. This basically stayed serving
the same items for 20 years. (rock music) - Do you want to do an interview? - [man] Not now, I don't. - All right.
- [man] All right? - Okay, thanks a lot. Turn the camera on. - [Chris] It's on, it's on. - [Gerry] He was looking
at his Penthouse magazine and a centerfold opened
while he was talking to me. (laughs) No, not right now, I
don't want to be interviewed. We're here at Tail O' the
Pup in Hollywood, California where the owner wants money
for us to interview him. This is the first hot dog stand that we've ever gotten someone asked money from us. Everyone's out for themselves here. Tinseltown. There's probably a large
avocado here somewhere. Probably a large burrito somewhere. (rock music) - We've been written
up in a number of books over the years. Food critics talk about Pink's. And when you come to
Pink's, it's kind of a nostalgic walk into the past. - My mother bought this lot. She saw his cart and decided
to go and buy it for $50. - It's been in the same
location ever since. In 1941, we built a little storage area. And then in 1946, we built the building that's here today. So not much has changed. We're surrounded by the studios and a lot of starving
actors used to come here. And my father-in-law used to say, "Listen, I'll treat you to a dog. When you make it big,
come back and see me." And Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis came back. Bill Cosby came back. Michael J. Fox before he became big, he used to call Pink's office. And supposedly the story
goes, answered the payphone and that's how he found out from his agent that he got the call and
made it to "Family Ties". Bruce Willis proposed to Demi Moore here. People use to come here just
to watch Orson Welles eat. Because he would sit
there, he was a big man, and he could down 20
hot dogs at one sitting. It's fun to be part of all of that. They were doing an article on Feng shui, which is the Chinese art of energy and having just the
right energy in a place. And they took all the
top restaurants in LA and Pink's came out
second, among all of them. In terms of, yeah, I guess the excitement, the energy, the flow. So we were really excited about that. ♪ One hand on my chest ♪ ♪ The other on my drink ♪ ♪ It only comes when the waitress ♪ ♪ Sees I'm gambling ♪ ♪ The phone near my bed ♪ ♪ Smells of wine and cigarettes ♪ ♪ From the other night ♪ ♪ When I called you up rambling ♪ - [Gerry] Vegas, baby. - [Chris] Vegas. Vegas! - [Gerry] You're going to make
our investors proud, Chris. ♪ Oh broken heart-mender ♪ ♪ But I just heard Elvis ♪ ♪ Sing Love Me Tender ♪ - [Chris] I want to gamble some money. - [Gerry] No gambling. - [Chris] I want to gamble. Hey, there it says
footlong hot dog, 79 cents. ♪ Meet me in Las Vegas ♪ ♪ In this city of sin ♪ ♪ I don't care if I lose all my money ♪ ♪ If I never lose you again ♪ - [Gerry] In 1963, NASA approved hot dogs for consumption on their missions. This is the closest we got
to the space environment. - Welcome to Flyaway. We're going to take you on up and we're going to have
some hot dogs, while we fly. Get relaxed. You get out there and
get relaxed, it's easy. Bend the elbows, keep them right here. Don't let the wind blow them behind you. Enforce right about here, chin up. And then do that. That's all it is. (rock music)
(singer drowned out by music) ♪ She's bringing out the madness ♪ ♪ I'm going to the wayside ♪ ♪ Well she said she's going in my way ♪ ♪ She took some uppers ♪ ♪ I ate my supper ♪ - [Gerry] Here we go. - You're going to get hot
dog buns up your nose. - [Gerry] I've had
worse things up my nose. ♪ How was I supposed to know ♪ ♪ She was a model ♪ ♪ She kissed like a sailor ♪ ♪ She got a book on the mom ♪ ♪ Shoot that tequila ♪ ♪ Win one to see her ♪ ♪ She drove a GTO ♪ ♪ We drove all night long ♪ ♪ How was I supposed to know ♪ - The business was founded
in 1929 by my mom's stepdad. His name was Kasper Koojoolian. He successfully operated his business until he passed away in 1943. So my mother and grandmother
operated the business until my mom and dad were married in 1946. And at that point, my dad gave up his career as a gem cutter and gave up cutting rubies and topaz for onions and tomatoes. I took over from my
dad in January of 1997. I guess I'm the 3rd
generation from our family that's operating this particular business. Well, an original Kasper's style hot dog comes with mustard, tomatoes,
sweet relish and onions. That's a hot dog with everything. It takes an awful lot to
make a really good hot dog. People don't seem to realize that. During the Battle of the Bulge there was a lot of German infiltrators wearing US uniforms and
speaking perfect English. And so that was a big problem for the US troops that were over there. He found this straggler who was
dressed in American uniform. He says, "Where are you from?" And the straggler says, "Well, I'm from Oakland, California." So the lie tenent asked
the people in his patrol if anyone was from Oakland, California. And one of the guys said,
"Well, I'm from Oakland." And he says, "Well ask this guy a question about Oakland, California
that only somebody from Oakland would know." And the guy says, "What's
Kasper's Hot Dogs?" The guy says, "It's a hot
dog stand on Lake Merritt in Oakland, California." The guy says, " Come
on, you're one of us." (group laughs) There's something about this hot dog, this sausage that you put in this bun. It's not like throwing someone on a grill and cooking it on both sides
and putting it in a bun and serving it to somebody. It's more than that. Everybody want everything? - [Chris] Load it up. - [Kevin] Oh yeah.
- [Gerry] Yes! (rock music) - [Chris] We had heard of a
sculpture called Tubesteak City. Having no idea what we would find we were lead to the warehouse
annex of the Oakland Museum. And in the middle of
all the stores artwork was what we were looking for. Lying underneath a plastic
tarp, it was all there. - What we were going to
do is a group project that would be far beyond the means that any one of us as individuals could do. We did this, well, it's
called Tubesteak City project. And this particular project was a hot dog that was 12 feet tall. I was a young teacher and
trying to get my class motivated and trying to do something
that was just extremely demanding in terms of time and energy. - [woman] I thought it was a good project. I was excited about it
because I thought it entailed an amount of
involvement that you just don't get in a normal class. You never get a group of
people working together, putting in the hours that
all those people did, and producing something like that. - We worked on that, this
group, for over a year. It was very, very involved. And the idea was for the buns to open to a nice open stance and then
the hot dog would slide up on the pole about a foot
and a half or two feet. Then close down and
then revolve 180 degrees and do the same thing again. - [Man} I was coming up the
hill and I looked and I said, "What the hell is that thing?" - [man] It's disgusting. I mean, I like art, man
but it's disgusting. - Some people loved it and enjoyed it for the fun and humor which
we were hoping they would. And other people were just incensed. You'd think you were
doing something horrible against them personally. But perhaps they've never
really thought about visual symbolism and art in general. And so they're connecting things in their own strange way. - [woman] I've never had a
hot dog served that way to me. I find it hard relating
to a hot dog on end. - [man] I'm struggling
with it as a piece of art. - [Michael] Well, I
don't know if it was art but we were certainly doing an art-related activity and experience. I thought it was very,
very sound educationally. I felt very good about the whole project. - [woman] I think that one
thing that this project did finally accomplish,
especially this year, it was a project where
people got together, worked to produce
something, and stood behind what they produced. And that was the most
important part of it to me. - [man] Kind of a pat
on your back for being part of something that
was a job well done. It's an experience that
you have to go through to know what it's like. It's hard to explain in just plain words. Also, it's very sobering in the fact that it makes you realize
that nothing's really a snap or that easy to do. Or permanent, nothing is permanent. (soft guitar music) - [Gerry] It seemed ironic
that we had been searching for the hot dog in factories,
festivals and stands but it was a giant hot dog sculpture that made us realize how profound and everlasting the icon is. When we left on our trip, we thought that to look at America you had to look at the hot dog. But that really wasn't enough. It was more than just a
tube of processed meat. It was about places, emotions and people. This was not just a
journey, it was a discovery. It had been a long trip. We were tired and hungry for salads. But we had just one more place to go. A place that had been in
front of us all along. With the people we had always known. Chris's grandparents started dating at a hot dog stand in the 8th grade. - Bend over. - [Gerry] It was their 50th anniversary and we're going to take them to a place they knew all too well. - Rutt's Hut was originated in 1928. I think there's a lot of tradition. I mean, everyone that comes here, old-timers to young kids, they tell you my grandfather
or my dad or my parents used to date and come
here when they were kids. - Now this is exciting! (group laughing) - Racing on 21, the hot rods. People getting married
here, people meeting here. People necking outside in the parking lot. Just a lot of traditions. - Oh, we were married in this church. - [Gerry] Oh, married in that church. - [Grandmother] Oh they look busy today. - [Gerry] Oh, they're always busy. - Oh yeah, always busy.
- Yeah, I guess they are. - They're known throughout the world. - Yeah, that's true. I don't think we've ever been here that they haven't been busy. (grandfather groans)
(laughs) We're not making out tonight. - Nope. (grandmother laughs) - Married for 50 years but before that together for how many years? - 10 before that.
- 10 before that? - 1937. She was 11 and I was 12. - We were in the 8th grade together. Now I don't know if this is true or not but he said when I walked in a classroom, even though I had little
skinny toothpick legs, he fell in love immediately and said, "This is the girl I'm going to marry." - Well, I eyeballed her and that was all that was necessary. (group laughs) 1937, boom. That's it. - Do you want the cheese? - I had a scallop sandwich here once. - Scallop sandwich? (laughs) - [Gerry] Two hot dog
platters? One for each of you? - [Grandmother] That would be good. - The relish is definitely, you cannot find this relish anywhere. It's one of a kind. Abe Rutt brought it
from Germany, I believe. And there's minimal people
that have the recipe. The four partners and our chef. - [Chris] What happens if the chef quits? - Well, he's a family member also so we're not too worried about it. - [Gerry] A toast?
- [Chris] A toast. Happy anniversary. - Would you like me to kiss
my 50 year old partner? Oh, I thought I'd taste
some onion. (laughs) - I hope you come another 50 years. (group laughs) - Thank you, thank you. - [Gerry] Lip locks. (group laughs) All right, break it up. Break it up. - It had become so clear. The best hot dog is your hot dog. And as long as there was emulsified meat and a casing to stuff it
in, we would be there. (rock music) - [Gerry] Three, two, go! 15 seconds. Eat a winner pickle. - I'm tearing up. It's got to be smaller. - [Gerry] How you feeling? (Chris burps) Four, three. - I just tried one. I wanted to see how fast I could eat it and I ate it in a little
less than 30 seconds. - Chris, we talked to the guy and he says he's going to win it. He's going to take it,
all 347 pounds of him. (rock music) - I estimate about two a minute. - Complete lie. Complete lie. - Maybe I'll slow down
a little bit, maybe 15. - They don't realize. They've no concept of what it takes. - I'm just a professional
eater, that's all. - I had my spleen removed earlier today. - There's no competition. - Chris, you nervous? - I'm extremely nervous. I'm starving. (rock music) - [announcer] Contest
number 12, Chris Patak. This is beautiful, there it comes, oh here they come! (rock music) This is for the big crown, are you ready? And the clock will start. (whistle blows) (crowd cheering) (rock music) Both of these guys look
to be pretty even though. Contestant number one,
George is big daddy. (rock music) We're in a dead heat. (crowd yelling) (rock music) Five, four, three, two,
one. (whistle blows) (crowd cheers) Oh my! - You got me hungry now
just talking about it. - [Chris] I'm getting hungry, man. We'll have to go out. Do you have-- - Oh we got kosher ones
down in the snack bar. - [Chris] Oh that's great. What time do they start serving? - Anytime you're ready. Anytime you're ready. (rock music) ♪ Well, I can see the sun
going down from here ♪ ♪ And I can tell you
it don't last so long ♪ ♪ I remember thinking it's so fast ♪ ♪ And I remember thinking what they say ♪ ♪ Where you think you're going now ♪ ♪ Where you think you're going now ♪ ♪ Inside you think you're
going nowhere fast ♪ ♪ It's hard to be this hard ♪ ♪ To ease my mind ♪ ♪ Don't you worry I'm afraid ♪ ♪ If I should slip and
fall flat on my face ♪ ♪ Don't you worry I'll get back up today ♪ ♪ Where you think you're going now ♪ ♪ Where you think you're going now ♪ ♪ Inside you think you're
going nowhere fast ♪ ♪ Where you think you're going now ♪ ♪ Where you think you're going now ♪ ♪ Inside you think you're
going nowhere fast ♪ ♪ You're going nowhere ♪ ♪ Where you think you're going now ♪ ♪ Where you think you're going now ♪ ♪ Inside you think you're
going nowhere fast ♪ ♪ Where you think you're going now ♪ ♪ Where you think you're going now ♪ ♪ Inside you think you're
going nowhere fast ♪ ♪ You're going nowhere ♪ ♪ Going nowhere fast ♪ ♪ Going nowhere ♪ ♪ I can see the sun go down from here ♪ ♪ And I can tell you
it don't last so long ♪
