The Hot Dog and American Culture

After completing my shopping at Sam's Club the other day, I sat down to perhaps one of my favorite American treats: the hot dog.  I pondered how this menu item consisting of low quality cuts of meat became such an important part of our culture.

Perhaps it has to do with its portability: Americans are on the move, and what better type of food can be carried with you than the hot dog?

Perhaps it is the price: even "gourmet" hot dogs are accessible to almost any budget.

Perhaps it is nostalgia: memories of baseball games or family barbeques featuring hot dogs are remembered throughout life.

Perhaps it is all these things, like the pieces of snout, ear, belly, and tail that make up the average hot dog, compressed into a product that is far more than "the sum of its part."  Regardless, my love affair with the hot dog will be long lived and isn't going anywhere!