Originally called a frankfurter (for its origin in Frankfurt, Germany) or a dachshund sausage (for its shape), the hot dog is said to have been first served on a bun in the U.S. in the 1880s.
German food vendors Antoine Feuchtwanger in St. Louis, Missouri, and Charles Feltman in Coney Island, Brooklyn, have both been credited with the innovation.
The name “hot dog” originated from the cartoons of Hearst sports cartoonist Thomas Aloysius (TAD) Dorgan.
About 1900, Dorgan depicted the “red hot” dachshund sausages sold at the New York Polo Grounds as actual dachshunds on buns, with the label “hot dogs.”