Nathan’s to blame for Feltman’s spectacular resurgence

Coney Island born historian Michael Quinn brought back the legendary brand only five years ago. Today Feltman’s of Coney Island,LLC is by far the fastest growing hot dog company in the United States. Quinn claims that if the quality of Nathan’s Famous hot dogs hadn’t decreased significantly since the 80’s he wouldn’t of had the desire to revive the world’s first hot dog, Feltman’s of Coney Island.

In 1867 Charles Feltman invented the hot dog in Brooklyn. The world’s first hot dog buns were baked at Feltman’s Bakery which was located at 450 Sixth Ave in Park Slope. The Feltman’s hot dogs were produced at a facility next to the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The same Old World German Frankfurters were sold on a bun by Feltman from 1867 until it was sold to a group of investors in 1946. The new investors dropped the original Feltman’s hot dog for a brand named Stahl-Meyer which had a contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers. This gave Nathan’s Famous a monumental advantage.

At the time the original Feltman’s hot dog stopped production Quinn’s great grandfather, an amateur sausage maker also named Michael Quinn began casing the Feltman’s Frankfurters from his home at 60 Sherman St. A very close friend who worked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard facility gave him the recipe only a few days after the hot dogs ceased production. Quinn would also make a variety of breakfast sausages as well as his own blend of Polish style sausages. Quinn’s father as a young boy would visit his pops on Sunday mornings to enjoy his variety of sausages.

Feltman’s owner Michael Quinn has had the original Feltman’s hot dog recipe in his possession since shortly before his grandfather passed in 1992. Quinn’s grandfather would take him to Burger Rama on Ft. Hamilton Parkway directly across the street from the lavish Green-Wood Cemetery. As a boy Michael Quinn was taken by Charles Feltman’s Mausoleum seen clearly from Burger Rama. That’s when the conversations started. With the recipe in hand Quinn would often talk to his two younger brothers about reviviving Feltman’s hot dogs while visiting the original Nathan’s Famous in Coney Island. All three of them agreed that the quality of Nathan’s Famous hot dogs were not the same. Their hot dogs tasted artificial and bitter. The Nathan’s restaurant hot dogs today come from Sabrett in the Bronx the supermarket Nathan’s hot dogs are licensed to the China-based WH Group which makes them in America using Smithfield’s production facilities.

Many Nathan’s Famous enthusiasts today still drink their marketing Kool-Aid believing that Nathan’s sells the same hot dogs as they did in 1916 and that it was Nathan’s wife Ida who had the recipe.

Nathan’s grandson Lloyd Handwerker claims that his grandmother Ida was the best onion peeler on Surf Ave; however, in no way shape or form did she have a hot dog recipe! This is disputed by the current company which was sold by the Handwerker family to a private equity firm in 1987. The current company claims the recipe dates back to 1916. However it seems that Nathan’s grandson is correct and that Nathan’s Famous waited for Feltman’s to close until creating their own custom blend hot dog.

In 1957 Nathan summoned Sam Solasz at the Hygrade Food Corporation to create the garlicky Nathan’s hot dog. Solasz went on to establish meat producing powerhouse Master Purveyors which supplies meat to Peter Luger’s Steakhouse. According to Nathan’s grandson the much better Feltman’s hot dog is sold at national supermarkets like Publix, Whole Foods, the BB& T Center which is the home of the NHL’s Florida Panthers. Feltman’s hot dogs may also be shipped to your home via Feltmanshotdogs.com