Give Me a Corny Bow-Wow

Greenbriar Valley Fair, Lewisburg, West Virginia August 1938
(Photograph: Alfred Eisenstaedt; LIFE Photo Archive)

As summer time rolls on I found myself craving that carnival food staple, the corn dog. Corn dog history is actually kind of ambiguous, but one thing is for sure, the corn dog is just one of the many food items that people are coating and frying up these days at carnivals and fairs across the country. From pickles to Twinkies, to even deep-fried butter, you can be sure that your cholesterol levels will take a hit when indulging in one of these fatty feasts. Here is some trivia I found out about the corny corn dog.

• There is an actual "corny dog" sold by Fletcher's at the State Fair of Texas (and it is very popular).
  
• Bow-Wow is diner lingo for hot dog, along with bun pup, tube steak and groundhog.
• There is no way of knowing where the corn dog truly originated. Many claim to being the founders of this battered tube steak, such as the Fletchers, Carl and Neil, who introduced the corny dog between 1938 and 1942, the Albert Pick-L. Barth Wholesale Catalog of Hotel and Restaurant Supplies with their "Krusty Korn Dog Baker" machine which appeared in 1929, and the Pronto Pup, which made its debut in a fountain shop window in Portland Oregan in 1941.
  
• The largest state fair in the United States is the State Fair of Texas, however, the Minnesota State Fair has a higher average daily attendance.
  
• Big Tex is the mascot of the State Fair of Texas. He stands at 52 feet and was introduced to the fair in 1952.
  
• Corn dogs on sticks have a couple of origins as well. One is the Cozy Dog Drive-In from Springfield, Illinois in 1946 and the other is Hot Dog on a Stick from Muscle Beach in Santa Monica, California, also in 1946.
• In Australia the corn dog is sometimes referred to as a "Dippy Dog", and in Canada as a "Pogo Stick".
  
• The first Saturday in March is National Corn Dog Day, which also celebrates basketball, tater tots, and American beer.

Also, check out this article I came across that features the top boardwalk foods: 8 Best Boardwalk Foods in the U.S. (Chocolate Covered Bacon. Really?!?)

"Deep Fried Twinkies"
(Photograph: Steve Snodgrass; Flickr Creative Commons)