- Nathan Handwerker
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Nathan Handwerker (June 14, 1892, Poland – March 24, 1974) was a Polish-American entrepreneur known for creating the Nathan's Famous brand of hot dogs.
Biography
Handwerker, a Polish Jew, immigrated to the United States in 1912. In addition to working as a delivery boy, he found work slicing rolls of bread at Feltman's German Gardens, a restaurant in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York.[1] The restaurant sold franks (hot dogs) for ten cents a piece at the time.[1]
In 1916, two of Handwerker's co-workers, future actors Eddie Cantor and Jimmy Durante, who worked as singing waiters at Feltman's, challenged Handwerker to start his own hot dog stand selling franks for just five cents a piece.[1] That same year, with $300, Handwerker and his new wife, Ida Handerker, opened a small hot dog stand with a two-foot grill on the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues in Coney Island. They spiced their hot dogs with Ida's secret recipe and sold them for only a nickel.
Handwerker decided to call his hot dog stand Nathan's Famous in 1921 after hearing the song, "Nathan, Nathan Why You Waitin?" by Sophie Tucker playing from a nearby restaurant.[1]
The food stand developed into the fast food chain Nathan's Famous, spearhead by his son, Murray Handwerker.[2][3]
On March 23, 1974, Nathan Handwerker suffered a heart attack at his home in North Port Charlotte, Florida. He died at St. Joseph's Hospital in Port Charlotte, Florida, on Sunday, March 24, 1974.[1] He was buried at Mt. Lebanon Cemetery in Queens, New York.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f "Nathan Handwerker obituary". The Daily Sentinel. 1974-03-25. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kP9DAAAAIBAJ&sjid=U7AMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2778,5148287&dq=nathan+handwerker&hl=en. Retrieved 2011-05-22.
- ^ Abelson, Reed (2011-05-15). "Murray Handwerker, 89, Dies; Made Nathan’s More Famous". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/16/nyregion/murray-handwerker-who-made-nathans-more-famous-dies-at-89.html. Retrieved 2011-05-22.
- ^ "Murray Handwerker dies at 89; Nathan's Famous owner expanded nationwide". Los Angeles Times. 2011-05-22. http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-passings-20110522,0,3302141.story. Retrieved 2011-05-22.
External links
Categories:- 1892 births
- 1974 deaths
- Businesspeople from New York City
- Fast-food chain founders
- American food industry businesspeople
- Polish businesspeople
- American Jews of Polish descent
- People from New York City
- People from Charlotte County, Florida
- American business biography, 1890s birth stubs
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