The celebration of National Hot Dog Days in Philadelphia was establised with an Official Proclamation by Mayor Michael Nutter.

The first event was held on July 13th (2nd Fridays on Lancaster Ave (link) with a clothsline strung along the 3800 block of Lancaster Ave displaying t-shirts from 20 different famous Hot Dog restaurants, while “the Space,” an art gallery at 3820 Lancaster Ave, gave away hot dogs to people out enjoying the 2nd Friday events.

The Dog Days of Summer was started by Keith Garabedian, the owner of Hot Diggity at 630 South St. (link). He and nine other South St area restaurants added a special Hot Dog dish to their menus, for the month of July.

The Dog Days of Summer kick off event was at the South St Hot Dog history display in the old Formost Kosher Sausage Co building at 4th and Gaskill Sts, where Hebrew National and Levis hot dogs were made from 1947 to 1973.

On display was the 12 foot high neon hot dog sign, provided by Len Davidson (Davidson Neon Company) along with early images of hot dog carts along South St. from the 1930’s.

At the opening on July 18th, the Wienermobile’s birthday, visitors learned the history of the vehicle and were given a Wienermobile whistle and a discount coupon for Levis Hot Dog Stand, now located in Jenkentown Pa. (link)

On Friday July 20 at Hot Diggity (630 South St) there was an exhibit of original art work by Hawk Krall and Hot Dog Memorabilia from the collection of Joel Spivak.

On Sunday, July 22nd, Councilman Mark Squilla [right] read the Proclamation and Sandra Benham [below, left] and Vickie Feldman [below, right], daughters of Joseph Feldman who designed and manufactured the Levis Hot Dog Sign, pulled the switch bringing back to life the giant hot dog that once graced the front of Levis at 507 S. 6th St.

Later that day a hot dog topping competition and t-shirt display took place outsideHot Diggity at 630 South St.

The Official celebration on July 23rd was at 5th and South Sts, honoring Gus and earlier hot dog vendors Lennys and Levis with a photo display.

The Reading Terminal Market celebrated National Hot Dog Month on July 24th, with many specials throughout the market. Paul Stankie, the director of the market, took us around and introduced us to all the vendor’s selling hot dogs at the Market and we ended the tour with a dog at Franks A Lot.
The Reading Terminal Market also donated Dietz and Watson hot dogs for a community outreach lunch at the HERO (Helping Energize & Rebuild Ourselves) summer camp at 17th and Tioga Sts.