Hotdogger Blog

Spending a day at a local Boys and Girls Club in Phoenix, Az was truly buns of fun. Atta-dog Adam and I joined in the fun while chatting with the vibrant kids and colored pictures of the Wienermobile. The most rewarding experience of this adventure was giving back to the community and making a child’s dream come true.

As Dijon John and I roamed the streets of Chicago in BOLOGNA, we came across the most maginificent center for education in the country: The Oscar F. Mayer Public School!

This Magnet school in a beautiful area of the Windy City was such a proud moment for me. Our founder was such a wonderful, hard working, dedicated man, that they decided to dedicate something back in his honor. A gorgeous plaque at the entrance to the building explains why:

The picture is hard to read, so I’ll transcribe. The plaque says, and I quote: ”

Oscar F. Mayer was born in Bavaria, Germany in 1859. At the age of 14, his father died and Oscar sailed to the United States with his aunt and uncle in search of opportunity and a better life. He settled in Chicago and lived with his uncle at the near north side of the city, where he apprenticed in a small butcher shop. In 1883, he opened his own butcher shop near this location with his brothers Max and Gottfried. Later, he married Louise Griener and they and their five children lived above the store. The butcher shop was successful.

Mayer pursued his ambition for a better life with an instinctive effort to create a better product and service at his shop – always searching for a better way to prepare and present his meat products. The butcher shop quickly became popular with local residents and prospered. It was here that a concept in meat preparation was born which was to ultimately revolutionize the meat packing industry in the United States and throughout the world. In the years to follow, the small butcher shop space grew and Oscar was joined by his son Oscar Gottfried Mayer. Over the years, he led the company’s transformation from a small butcher shop into a manufacturing plant located near Scott and Sedgwick Streets. This location became the headquarters of Oscar Mayer & Company.

The company continued to grow. New plants were opened throughout the US and around the world. Through pursuing innovations in packing, manufacturing, marketing and advertising, Mayer led the company to success as a meat processor rather than a meat packer. The “yellow-band” wieners, the Oscar Mayer jingle, “Little Oscar” and the Wienermobile were creative and unique national marketing programs which not only built a recognizable and trusted brand name, but became an icon of American culture, reflecting the opportunities inherent in our liberties and economic system. In addition, new continuous production techniques, packaging innovation, distribution strategies and advanced quality control procedures have had a dominant influence throughout the meat processing industry and have made Oscar Mayer & Company a world wide success.

Throughout his life, Oscar Mayer always loved and respected this community. To share the opportunity he had in America, and to give something back, Mayer worked toward securing the commitment to establish this school in our community. This school is named in his honor to remind those who come here of the opportunity that exists in our country to pursue ambitions for a fulfilling and successful life – even starting with a job in a small butcher shop on the north side of Chicago.”

Oscar Mayer gave more than hot dogs to this community: he gave hope and the feeling that you can do anything you want if you simply relish your dreams.

The best part of this job, has to be all the bunderful people that appreciate the Wienermobile and the franktastic stories they talk about. At one of our events Atta-Dog Adam and I got invited to a Californian Castle and had an experience we will forever remember. We drove 45 min to find this castle, and in the middle of all the mountains, an Irish style castle laid on 500 acres of land. Here are a few pictures with the Wienermobile by our side.

Atta-dog Adam and I found the largest tree we had ever seen in Santa Barbara, CA. I had never seen a tree this large. This beautiful tree provides shade for many people that are waiting for the train. Even the Wienermobile enjoyed a little shade while exploring the roots of this huge tree.

The Wienermobile enjoying the shade

Driving through Vail, Colorado Atta-Dog-Adam and I got to enjoy the beautiful view of the first snow fall. Being from Texas you don’t get to see snow, so I was really excited. We decided to relish the moment and get some hot chocolate to continue our drive to Denver.

Our Fun Bun enjoying the snow

So happy to play with the snow

On our way to Denver, Colorado

Getting ready to hit Atta-Dog-Adam with a snow ball

Swamped by tailgators!

Taking hot-route 301 over to Jacksonville, we kicked off the Jaguars – Cardinals game.

Kickoff!

We coached fans on how to use wiener whistles and the history of the Wienermobile, and we ran with the option of watching the game from the stands!

He could go all the wayyyyy

It was a madden-ingly fun weekend of points, pigskin, and “I saw it!” post cards, and the Wienermobile going to great games made for some real fantasy football!

Traveling through the Southwest Atta-Dog Adam and I found more dinosaurs in Nevada. I love dinosaurs so anytime we see a museum or park we definitely have to stop. Here are a couple of pictures of our adventure with our fun bun.

One of the most franktastic things about being a Hotdogger is participating in parades!

This year, we participated in the Schaumburg, Illinois Labor Day Parade.  This parade theme was around a very important man: Mr. Abraham Lincoln. Now I bet if Oscar Mayer hot dogs were around, he’d give his honest answer of it being his favorite bun food!

I call this photo, ‘Torey Toppings Tops the Dog.”

As I sat on top of BOLOGNA, I made sure Dijon John knew there was no hauling buns with precious condiments on the bun roof:

And this one is titled: “Dijon John Drives Shot Bun.”

Take a look at how the other parade entertainers dressed their floats:

Over 10,000 people attended the parade, and over 10,000 people were excited to see the Wienermobile!

During our visit in memphis we definitely got to oportunity to enjoy some of the local music scene. We visited Sun Studio where Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Louis, and of course Elvis Presley got their starts. We were so inspired by the rockin’ music scene that we had to take our Wienermobile Yummy to Elvis’ Graceland!   

Doggone Dave and Lil

Ok, so maybe we didn’t take the Wienermobile for a ride on the real Autobahn, but we did ride the Autobahn sausage buffet at Schmidt’s Sausage Haus in Columbus, Ohio!

Victory Dog Victoria and I had to try everything!

We couldn’t think of a better place to dine with a 27-foot-long German wiener than at this local landmark. The food was fabulous! Danke!

Wienermobile visits Schmidt's Sausage Haus