From the title of a Led Zeppelin song to an item listed with baseball and apple pie in a catchy car-commercial jingle, the humble hot dog occupies a prime position in popular culture.

Oh, and lots of people love to eat ’em.

That was evident during the recent celebration of National Hot Dog Day in Hampton Township, with the tasty tubular treats went to hungry community pool patrons for a discount.

Considering the patriotic connotation that has arisen around the savory not-quite-sandwiches, it should come as no surprise that each July — before, during and after Independence Day — is National Hot Dog Month.

But the standard sausage-type meat on a bun isn’t quite as quintessentially American is it may seem.

According to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, Frankfurt, Germany —as in “frankfurter,” of course — claims to be the originator of the hot dog and actually celebrated its 500th birthday in 1987. And in case you’re wondering about the word “wiener,” the name Austria’s capital, Vienna, in German is Wien.

In any case, Americans continue to enjoy hot dogs, be they all-meat or all-veggie, throughout the year, along with apple pie.

When it comes to baseball … well, the less said about it around Pittsburgh, the better.

For fun frankfurterry facts, visit www.hot-dog.org and www.thehotdog.org.

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