"hot dog"--Douglas Wilson's 1935, 1939 attestations

[Douglas G. Wilson]

>In the June 21, 1939 example below ('When the President returned from
>hot-dogging with royalty, he looked at his desk, frowned at the
>"stacks of work" confronting him'), "hot-dogging" clearly means
>"eating hot dogs." On June 11, 1939, President and Mrs. Roosevelt had
>entertained King George VI and Queen Elizabeth at their estate at
>Hyde Park, New York and served the royal guests Nathan's hot dogs.
>This is a heartwarming highlight in the history of the hot dog.

I couldn't tell that from the piece. Still I suspect there's an intentional
double meaning. "Hotdogging" was not a usual everyday way to say "eating
hot dogs" AFAIK: if it had been I would have picked up a few examples in my
search, I guess.

>2) In the July 26, 1935 example, the meaning of "hot-dogging" is
>unclear ("Nowadays the New Dealers are stepping out.  Most publicized
>hot-dogging is their weekending at the exclusive Jefferson Island
>Club in Chesapeake Bay."). Would the full quote provide more clarity?
>The term might mean "eating hot dogs" (at a swank outdoor
>gathering--away from the city--as happened four years later with the
>Roosevelts and king/queen of England).

Here I think "hot-dogging" and "stepping out" -- and the title "snooty" --
pretty clearly refer to "conspicuous consumption", and not to eating wieners.

[I did find one other example of "hot dogging" from 1932. This was "go hot
dogging rather than golfing" and it was applied to a purchaser of a hot dog
factory who gave away the miniature golf course which was included with it
... "go hot dogging" here would mean "go into the hot dog business", I guess.]

-- Doug Wilson