July 4th 2018: A beginner's guide to Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest

Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest has been held every 4 July on Coney Island, New York City, since 1916 and is exactly what it sounds like: a competitive eating competition in which participants have 10 minutes to devour as many frankfurters and buns as they can. Nathan’s Famous has stood as a seafront snack venue for 102 years, situated at the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues and founded by Jewish immigrant Nathan Handwerker (1892-1974), who started out selling sausages for a nickel with his wife Ida, using her Polish grandmother’s secret spice recipe. Celebrated vaudevillian Eddie Cantor, who met Handwerker while working as a singing waiter and encouraged him to go into business on his own, is said to have competed in the 1917 contest against Jack West, father of the bawdy comedian Mae.

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