HGIA: Wienermobile

Wienermobile
Photo courtesy of Kraft Foods, Inc.

For decades, the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile™ has been a uniquely American fixture, but behind the successful marketing campaign of this American company lies a long tradition of German-American foodways and entrepreneurship. Nineteenth-century German immigrants like Oscar Mayer introduced to America unique culinary traditions, especially in the areas of meat curing and sausage making. In the multicultural American context, people of various ethnic backgrounds became acquainted with German dishes, while German Americans incorporated the food traditions of their neighbors. Over time a number of historically German food items and dishes were forgotten, while others, such as the “frank(furter),” evolved beyond their European origins to become staples of a new American cuisine.

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