Hot Dog War and Measuring Up

Few will remember the great Hot Dog Size War of the late 1930′s early 1940’s but it was a big deal at the time. California Hot Dog restaurants raced to see who could offer the largest Hot Dog to eager customers. The Hot Dog war lasted only a few years and was a fun time for all. In the end Boner Billy’s Famous Hot Dogs and their signature, “Big Boner Hot Dog” won out with a 13 inch monster for its time.

This very rare billboard promoting the “Measuring Up” campaign with a pretty girl holding a measuring ruler launched around 1939. The photo taking years later is of a billboard beaten up by time, 113 temperatures and sun belched. We believe the photo was taken around 1946 as by 1947 the billboard was blown down in a desert wind storm.

Thanks so much to Clark Richardson who found this photo in an old family album and shared it with us.

Check out more Boner Billy vintage signage: Boner Billy’s Famous Hot Dogs

Boner Billy's Billboard Summer of 67

I cannot remember where and sadly Dad is gone now to tell me. I do know it was in California on the way to Shasta Lake, summer trip 1967. I was too young to get what was so funny but remember Dad laughing and turning the car around and going back to take this picture. We then ran into Boner Billy’s Famous Hot Dogs and stopped for lunch. It was the best hot dog to date and lived up to its name as I could not finish it. Dad got a shirt and hat and had them for years and whenever he had it on sure got a lot of great laughs.  

Oh the good old days,

Mike Porter

Thanks Mike for pulling this from the old family photo album and sharing it with us. 

Weiner Gets Big Boner

Boner Billy's News Room         
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE- 5/17/2013

Anthony Weiner just announced that he is joining the New York City mayoral race. The gang at Boner Billy’s Famous Hot Dogs thought it was a great time to offer Weiner a best of luck gift and what better than the Big Boner, Boner Billy’s namesake Hot Dog. It is just our way of saying best of luck and hope he replies to our offer.  

Hot Dog in the Sky

Thanks to Todd Jones for sending in this picture taken on the California coast in Santa Monica in the summer of 1977. See other Boner Billy's Famous Hot Dogs vintage signage and other things.  

History of the American Hot Dog

Sausage the meat of the Hot Dog is one of the oldest forms of processed food, having been mentioned in Homer’s Odyssey as far back as the 9th Century B.C.

In regards to the Hot Dog in America a recently unearthed mummified Hot Dog may soon rewrite the history books. Earthmovers in the foothills of the California Sierra Nevada recently discovered what appears to be a time capsule dating back to 1849. It has long been thought America’ s first Hot Dog was introduced around 1870, in Coney Island, by Charles Feltman a German immigrant. Hold the mustarded as it now seems the first Hot Dog in America was introduced 21 years earlier at a small California trading post owned and operated by a Mr. B. Billy and severed up to hungry Forty-niners heading to the California gold fields.

Archaeologists believe there is no need to Corbin date test the Hot Dog in question as the time capsule was sealed and the mummified Hot Dog was wrapped in newspapers bearing an 1849 date along with other artifacts. There will be a few test to determine the condiments as it is believed there is a mustard seed sauce but more over a reddish sauce, which just might be ketchup. To think that America’s first Hot Dog may have been served up with mustard and ketchup is in itself a groundbreaking discovery.