JULY 2019 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 25
WHOLLY MOLI
NATHAN’S FAMOUS
A RELISHED FRANK
BY TIMOTHY BOLGER
Poverty-stricken Polish immigrant
Nathan Handwerker was hungry
to take his bite of the American
dream, so he cooked up a plan to
sell frankfurters in Coney Island
for five cents in 1916.
At the time, that was the same price
as subway fare and half the cost of
franks sold by his former
employer, Feltman’s of Coney
Island. What may be
the first fast-food restaurant
price war ensued.
But since current-day, Jericho-based
Nathan’s Famous, Inc. has grown to a
$101 million company, it’s safe to say
that Handwerker’s business sense
and marketing flair — epitomized
by the company’s annual Fourth of
July hot dog eating contest that airs
on ESPN — made him top dog.
“Give ‘em and
let them eat,”
was Handwerker’s
policy,
according to The New York Times,
which translated his saying to: Serve
the best quality food at the best price,
and customers will come running.
The company, which now includes
franchise locations around the nation
and a presence in 11 countries, is on a
roll. It sold more than 600 million hot
dogs last year.
But before the crowd pleaser became
the official hot dog of Major League
Baseball in 2017, it was started with
$300 in savings and Handwercker's
wife’s secret spice recipe. Nathan’s
second location opened on Long
Beach Road in Oceanside in 1959,
cementing Long Island into the hot
dog empire’s legacy.
In 1968, the company went public
but was still family run until 1987,
when it was acquired by Equicor
Group Ltd., a Rockville Centre-based
private investment group, for $20
million. Its initial corporate headquarters
was in Westbury, before
moving to One Jericho Plaza a decade
ago.
None of it would have been possible
without the late namesake founder’s
appetite that rivaled defending
hot-dog eating contest champion
Joey Chestnut’s record of scarfing 74
franks — and buns — in 10 minutes.
“I always knew I was going to be in the
restaurant business,” Handwerker
was quoted as saying in Investor’s
Business Daily. “There's always food
there. I grew up so poor, and this was
a way of guaranteeing I’d never be
hungry.”
Nathan's Famous is among
the most popular franks eaten,
especially in July, which is
National Hot Dog Month.
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