NY Times repeats 1942 Texas State Fair "corn dog" myth

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

Why do I read the New York Times?
...
Yesterday, in the "city" section, the New York Times did a story about  
""These Tour Guides Know the History Not Found on Plaques." The story began with  a 
tour guide explaining that Manhattan's Seneca Village (replaced by Central  
Park) had no plaque. Well, there is one. I wrote in to NY Times Corrections, 
but  that department doesn't acknowledge all errors. See:
_http://www.r8ny.com/blog/barry_popik/ny_times_errs_on_seneca_village_there_is
_a_plaque.html#comment_ 
(http://www.r8ny.com/blog/barry_popik/ny_times_errs_on_seneca_village_there_is_a_plaque.html#comment)         
...
Sunday's "Week in Review" section runs a piece on deep-fried foods. The  
article states: "It is the Texas fair that claims to have started it all, when  
Carl and Neil Fletcher popularized the corn dog in 1942." 
...
There are many "corn dog" citations before 1942 (such as one on the  New York 
Times, not that anyone checks), including one that credits the  Louisiana 
State Fair for the corn dog's introduction. See:
_http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/corn_dog_or_corndog/_ 
(http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/corn_dog_or_corndog/) 
...
Jane and Michael Stern wrote about State Fair Food in the September 3, 2006  
NY Times Op-Ed page, also crediting the 1942 Texas State Fair and Carl and 
Neil  Fletcher with the "corn dog." I wrote in to the NY Times with documented 
proof  that it wasn't true, but my letter was not printed.
...
NewspaperArchive (as all know) isn't functioning very well these days, but  
"hot-dog-on-a-stick/"corn dog-on-a-stick" citations are appreciated. Not that  
the truth will change anything.
...
...
...
_http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/24/weekinreview/24basics.html?ref=us_ 
(http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/24/weekinreview/24basics.html?ref=us) 
      
Deep-Fry, and Don’t Forget the Stick 
 
By RICK LYMAN
Published: June 24, 2007
...
 
In theory, just about anything can be deep-fried, as long as it’s reasonably  
solid and has a high combustion point. And a surprising variety can then be  
placed in your mouth, though sometimes a little courage is required. 
...

 
As we move into the heart of the county and state fair season, America’s  
deep-fry pioneers are once again pushing the envelope and plundering every aisle  
at the supermarket in search of fresh items that can be breaded, impaled on a 
 stick and submerged in hot oil. 
... 
For a good deep-fried olive, for instance, head to the Los Angeles County  
Fair in Pomona where deep-fried strawberries and avocados can also be sampled.  
The San Diego County Fair offers squid on a stick and deep-fried alligator. In 
 Florida, deep-fried pickle slices are called Frickles. Or head to the Texas  
State Fair where a visionary named Abel Gonzales Jr. was able to create  
deep-fried Coke last year by mixing soda pop into the batter and then covering  
the result with cola syrup, cinnamon-sugar, whipped cream and a cherry. (Mr.  
Gonzales had won the fair’s top taste award the year before, as well, for a  
deep-fried peanut butter, jelly and banana sandwich.) 
... 
It is the Texas fair that claims to have started it all, when Carl and Neil  
Fletcher popularized the corn dog in 1942. The Minnesota State Fair, however,  
says it unveiled the strikingly similar Pronto Pup a year earlier. But not 
until  June 16, 1946, did Ed Waldmire Jr. think to impale one on a stick in  
Springfield, Ill., creating the modern corn dog that we know today. He called it  
the Cozy Dog. (Actually, he wanted to call it a Crispy Cur, but his wife  
intervened.) 
[CRISPY cur? It's CRUSTY cur. This writer can't even copy the Wikipedia  
correctly: _http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn_dog_ 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn_dog) .  -- B.P.] 
... 
No slight to Texas, but it is the Minnesota State Fair that may well be the  
epicenter of stick and hot-oil cuisine. Spaghetti-and-meatballs on a stick.  
Deep-fried Oreos and Twinkies. Alligator sausage on a stick. Deep-fried cheese  
curds. Pork chops on a stick. Wild rice corndogs. Pizza on a stick. 
Deep-fried  chocolate chip cookies on a stick. Grapes. Pineapples. Both honeydew and  
cantaloupe melons. 
... 
This year, Charlie Burrows, co-owner of Axel’s Bull Bites Booth at the  
Minnesota fair, has come up with what he calls a sloppy Joe on a stick. “It  doesn’
t sound like something you could do,” Mr. Burrows told The St. Paul  Pioneer 
Press. “But trust us.” 



************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org