How A Rainy Day Led To The Corndogs We Know And Love Today

Korean corndogs may be trendy these days, but corn-battered hot dogs are an All-American invention. So much so that they're practically de rigueur for presidential candidates hoping to score big in the Iowa Caucus — at the 2019 Iowa State Fair, Bill de Blasio, Andrew Yang, and Bernie Sanders chowed down on corn dogs for the cameras. Do corn dogs originate in Iowa, though? Not according to the founders of Oregon-based Pronto Pups. They claim to have come up with the idea on a rainy day at Rockaway Beach. (The one on the Tillamook Bay, not the Queens recreation area immortalized in a Ramones song.)

According to Versa and George Boyington, nobody was buying hot dogs in soggy buns one wet weekend back in 1938 or 1939, and they wound up having to feed the wet bread to the seagulls. This prompted George, the family inventor, to come up with the concept of a "bun" that would cook at the same time the hot dog did, and he settled on dipping the dogs in cornmeal batter and deep-frying them. By 1941, Pronto Pup was in business, and would eventually turn into a nationwide food truck franchise. In fact, this chain with Pacific Northwest roots is now a Midwestern favorite. Pronto Pup in Grand Rapids, Michigan even has plans to take the Boyingtons' corndog concept into the 21^st century by opening a ghost kitchen.

The Oregon origin story, while true, doesn't apply to all corndogs, but only to the Pronto Pup brand. The history of corndogs in general is harder to trace, although Texas is a leading candidate for their birthplace. Neil and Carl Fletcher, co-founders of Texas State Fair fixture Fletcher's Corny Dogs, couldn't really be said to have invented the corn dog since they didn't start selling this item until 1942. Still, corn dogs may have evolved from the sausages baked in cornbread that were introduced by German immigrants who began arriving in the Lone Star State in the 19^th century. A similar sandwich eaten in Oklahoma (a state that borders Texas) was said to have inspired Ed Waldmire of Springfield, Illinois' Cozy Dog Drive-In, although the corndogs he subsequently "invented" weren't ready until 1946.

One notable moment in corndog history may have been the invention of a machine that would both coat food in batter and deep fry it. This contraption was patented by Buffalo, New York businessman Stanley Jenkins in 1929, leading some sources to hail him as the father of the corndog. This isn't strictly true, because while the patent application does suggest using the apparatus for cooking wieners as well as boiled eggs, cheese, fruit, and ham, no mention is made of using cornmeal in the batter. Even if Jenkins didn't invent the corn dog, though, he probably helped pave the way for whoever it was who first dipped a hot dog in corn batter and boiling oil.