Murray Handwerker: A True American Entrepreneur

Nowadays, hot dogs are as American as baseball and apple pie, but that wasn't always the case. Originally from Germany, hot dogs began appearing in the U.S. in the late 1800s. Thanks to the business acumen of men like Charles Feltman, who began selling hot dogs at Coney Island in New York in the 1870s, hot dogs quickly became associated with amusement parks, baseball games and fairs.

Polish immigrant Nathan Handwerker, another shrewd businessman of the time and a former employee of Feltman's, began selling hot dogs made from his wife's recipe on Coney Island in 1916. With $300 in financial backing from pals Jimmy Durante and Eddie Cantor, Handwerker opened his hot dog stand at the corner of Surf and Stillwell avenues and sold his hot dogs for just a nickel, half the price of Feltman's dogs. Food safety laws were just starting to be developed at this time, so Handwerker made sure that men wearing surgeon's smocks were regularly seen eating his hot dogs.

Nathan's wife Ida gave birth to a son, Murray, in 1921. Their son grew up at the Coney Island hot dog stand and learned everything about the business during his childhood. After returning from World War II, Murray earned a Bachelor's degree in French from New York University and eventually took over the business from his father.

While Nathan's sole goal was to provide for his family, Murray's visions were set quite a bit higher. He expanded the restaurant's menu and opened additional locations throughout New York. The company went public in 1968 and Murray had successfully opened up 43 locations and 10 franchises by 1977. Murray also succeeded in getting Nathan's Famous hot dogs on supermarket shelves across the country.

Although Nathan's Famous hit a rough patch in the early 1980s, Murray persevered, closing several restaurants and franchises to stay afloat. He sold the company to Equicor Group, an investment company, in 1987 and retired to Florida. The name Nathan's Famous is still synonymous with hot dogs and their dogs have been the favorite of celebrities and politicians for nearly a century now.