A hot dog on a stick by an other name….

John-Bryan Hopkins

CORN DOGS! I‘LL TAKE TWO!

The corn dog, a pogo, dagwood dog or corny dog is a hot dog coated in cornbread batter and deep fried in hot oil, although some are baked. Almost all corn dogs are served on wooden sticks, though some early versions were stickless.

There is some debate as to the exact origins of the corn dog. An article in The New York Times made reference to “corn dog” stands as early as 1947.

In 300 Years of Kitchen Collectibles, author Linda Campbell Franklin states that a “Krusty Korn Dog baker” machine appeared in the 1929 Albert Pick-L. Barth wholesale catalog of hotel and restaurant supplies. The ‘korn dogs’ were baked in a corn batter and resembled ears of corn when cooked.

A number of current corn dog vendors lay claim that credit for the invention and/or popularization of the corn dog goes towards Carl and Neil Fletcher for when they introduced their “Corny Dogs” at the Texas State Fair sometime between 1938 and 1942.

The Pronto Pup vendors at the Minnesota State Fair claim to have invented the corn dog in 1941.

Cozy Dog Drive-in, in Springfield, IL, claims to have been the first to serve corn dogs on sticks, in 1946.

Also in 1946, Dave Barham opened the first location of Hot Dog on a Stick at Muscle Beach, Santa Monica, California.

Regardless of the origins, there remains a regional naming difference: in Texas they are “corny dogs” and everywhere else “corn dogs”.