Ok, I agree that seems a strange item to be putting in On Second Thought but bare with me.
So it begs the question: When is a sandwich not a sandwich? Apparently, when it’s a hot dog.
A few weeks ago, the Courier-Journal created a brouhaha on whether the hotdog is or is not a sandwich? So much so that it garnered national attention. The Courier-Journal went through all of its issues and found at least 10 times — as far back as 1887, yes 1887 — that it had referred to the hot dog as a sandwich. So it published a correction, apologizing for calling the hot dog a sandwich and then listed the dates when the mistake had been published. The first time was October 2, 1887. One article even referred to it as a “frankfurter sandwich with catchup.”
To make it all right, the Courier-Journal is inviting its subscribers to a hot dog party.
Here’s more:
A while back we wrote a correction for all of the times in our history that we called a hot dog a sandwich.
The worldwide attention we received was really fun, and one of the companies that took notice was Hebrew National. They loved it so much that they decided to throw us a party, and subscribers like you can join us!
Check out courier-journal.com/xtras and log into your account. Claim your free tickets there and then join us Sept. 7 for the cookout at our office.
It won’t be fancy, but it will be fun. Come meet our journalists and have lunch — it’s a small thank you for being a loyal subscriber.
The background:
On July 19, the Courier-Journal had the following under a headline, Correction: The Hot Dog is not a Sandwich
On the following dates, the Courier-Journal incorrectly referred to hot dogs as sandwiches: Oct. 2, 1887; Aug. 10, 1901; March 20, 1904; July 21, 1935; Jan. 14, 1939; May 4, 1941; Sept. 15, 1950; June 29, 1958; Nov. 16, 1961; and Aug. 4, 1966. Among those errors were references to a frankfurter sausage sandwich, frankfurter sandwich, coney island sandwich, frankfurter sandwich with mustard, and, the most egregious, a frankfurter sandwich with catchup. We deeply regret the errors, especially that last one.
Three days later, the Courier-Journal noted that it had become a national story. And even CJ columnist Joe Gerth took exception to the Courier’s decision that the hot dog is not a sandwich.
So there you have the story behind the story. It’s between two pieces of bread so that makes it a sandwich, right? On Second Thought, it apparently is not.
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