Harry’s Game - Derby prepares to commemorate the 'inventor' of the hot dog

Which Englishman has made the greatest impact on the United States of America? Let’s hear it for Harry M. Stevens, eldest son of James Stevens, a blue-collar worker with the Midland Railway Locomotive in Derby!

The 150th anniversary of Harry’s birth, in 1856, is a timely reminder of his influence on popular American culture. Not to mention, an opportunity to once again pay tribute to the man who allegedly "invented" the hot dog – the world’s most popular fast food boasting historical links to Presidents, the British Royal Family, Hollywood stars and most of all, the sport of baseball. Even the legendary Babe Ruth was proud to call the man from Derby: "My second dad".

Credited, also, with designing the baseball scorecard still used to this day, and with pioneering the drinking of soda through a straw, Harry’s major claim to fame is nevertheless the way in which his name is now synonymous with the hot dog.

Born in Derby 150 years ago, Harry became a caterer in his hometown – supplying, amongst others, Normanton Barracks with milk - before immigrating with his family to Ohio in the 1880s. The entrepreneurial flair, which he put to such great effect later in life, led him to believe that he could make money from catering at large sporting events in the United States.

His early visits to baseball grounds, however, ended in personal frustration at being unable to identify visiting players, or to keep up with the action. As a result, he devised a scorecard, which could be used by the fans, and he also left space on them for advertisements. An instant success, Stevens’ scorecards have altered little to this day.

But the most popular story concerning Harry Stevens relates to a chilly April day at New York City’s Polo Ground, in 1901. By now, Stevens had the catering concession for major league baseball games, but was losing money trying to sell ice cream and cold soda. He sent out his salesmen to buy up all of the ‘dachshund’ sausages they could find, along with rolls to put them in, and encouraged his vendors to go round the ground shouting "They’re red hot. Get your dachshund sausages here".

The story continues that newspaper cartoonist Tad Dorgan, short on ideas and working to a tight deadline, drew inspiration from what he saw and drew a barking dachshund sausage nestling in a roll. Not sure how to spell "dachshund", he scrawled the words "hot dog" on his cartoon instead. The drawing became famous. So did the hot dog’s connection with baseball. And another American icon was born.

Academic and historic research may have subsequently proven that others before Stevens – from the 1st Century AD, through to vendors outside student dorms in the 1890s – had been eating, and selling, sausages in bread and buns long before Stevens’ invention. But none remain as deeply entrenched in American culture as the Derbeian’s dachshund.

And Derby itself – which is associated with the world’s first factory, some of the finest works of art in the world, a major role in the industrial revolution, the first Astronomer Royal, and the Rolls Royce engine – is rightfully proud of its links with the man whose hot dog business became a household name in America.

So whatever became of that humble snack? Millions, if not billions, later, the hot dog is still going strong, and is forever linked to both the sport of baseball and American popular culture as a whole.

It is said Babe Ruth once downed 24 of them between back-to-back games, that movie actress Marlene Dietrich described hot dogs and champagne as her favorite meal, and that Franklin D Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor thought long and hard before deciding to include hot dogs on the menu when King George VI visited New York in June 1939.

Following Harry’s death in May 1934, generations of the Stevens family maintained his traditions and developed the Harry M Stevens business into a catering giant.

In 1996, Harry’s name was once again back in the headlines, when 166 items of his baseball memorabilia were auctioned off for $385,000 in New York City. A photograph of Babe Ruth hitting his 60th home run inscribed "To my second dad Harry M Stevens from Babe Ruth December 25th 1927", was bought by a Cincinnati collector Steve Walter for $22,000.

The railroad worker's son, who took the fast track to fame and fortune in America, will be remembered in a number of ways in Derby during the 150th anniversary of his birth.

His home-town, for example, will be producing a new and timely 'Derby Sausage and Ale Trail', leading visitors on a tour of some of the most mouth-watering bangers (Sausages) and beer in Britain. Quality butchers, market traders participants at the city's popular Farmer's Markets, and real ale pubs will all be highlighted on the trail which, as well as commemorating Stevens, will also tie-in with a county-wide campaign to highlight some of Derbyshire's very best locally produced food and drink.

In addition, Derby Tourism is also planning to add some UK 'relish' to the United States' National Hotdog Day, on July 21st.

i watched 2 fairly violent japanese movies tonight, "battle royale" and "battle royale 2". intermixed with all of the senseless carnage was an underlying message of partners/friends til the end and love. partners who sticks it through until the end, no matter the consequences. all during the movie i couldn't help myself from thinking of you. am i strong enough to see it through to the end? i promised to stick by your side and to protect you. can u sleep in a bed which is not your own and among strangers? what are you thinking about as you lie there all alone? how i miss you already. how i still always worry about you. how i wish i could be there with you to take all of your fears away.

 i want to go to sleep now so that we can be together in my dreams. good night my love.

i hope she isn't scared being in a strange place surrounded by strangers. i am sure many thoughts will be running through her head about the procedure, be it real or imagined. even though she's older, she may still have the fears of a child. how i wish i was there to comfort her but since i'm not, i have to try and do the best that i can. i hope she isn't in too much pain right now even though i know the pain will only be temporary. i will gladly live with a lifetime of pain and misery if i am able to make all of her pains go away. i can't help but to worry about her. i cant stop missing her. please hurry back home safely to your family and me...

 lol. it seems the silent stretch between my blogs have been getting longer and longer. so i sit here and ask myself.... "chol.. how have u been doing"? i wish i can say that i have been having a very happy and fulfilled life, and thats why i don't have time to write anymore. the truth of the matter is.. my life kinda sucks. haha. seriously. lolz. it's amusing to me that i can actually laugh at myself. oh wells... i gotta keep it real. awhile back i wrote that my car was stolen.. well the cops re-covered it like a month ago. it was in pretty bad shape when i finally paid to get it out of impound. yes.. welcome to america where u have to pay to get back your stolen vehicle. it's been so long ago that i'm not even gonna bore anyone with the details. i have been broke as hell cause i had to buy another car while mine was stolen AND i had to pay a small fortune to get the stolen one back from impound after it was recovered. not to mention all of the ******** money i had to pay to repair the "new" used car i bought. oh yeah.. also a couple of 17" LCD monitors that i came across and just couldn't pass up on. lol. anyways... i'm finally back on track to financial stability again but then WHAM!!! my damn gallstones starts acting up and i had to take a couple of days off from work. i pride myself on coming to work everyday and am known as an ironman. i guess its been my own fault cause i have been such a naughty little boy and eating stuff i know damn well is gonna be giving me pains later on. for being such a retard i have been having pains like a mofo for the past 3 weeks straight. i pop tums like its candy til it stops being effective then i move on to heavier stuff. maalox tablets.. extra strength. tastes like eating chalk like all other antacids but u get the added benefit of having pasty powder all around ur mouth when u least expect it. i went for a whole day not knowing i been walking around with multicolored powder around my mouth looking like a clown. lolz. aint over the counter **** wonderful? hmm... afterwork i have been messing around with my computers downloading movies, music, programs.... anything i can get my grubby little hands on to pirate. lolz. i have been such a baddd, baddd boy. so basically i have really been doing nothing. i have my laptop going 24/7 downloading stuff and then when the hard disk is filled up i transfer the data to my desktop where i burn it onto a DVD. i'm averaging like 4 gigs of data a DAY. lolz. don't ask.. don't tell. haha.

 this is getting wayyyyy too long and boring so let me end this with a shout out to my love. everyone stay cool, get outdoors and enjoy the fresh air, and take care of each other.

until next time... have a wonderful day!

i guess i need to document this week's events cause it sure has been a very messed up week. lets start off with wednesday morning when i woke up to go to work. that would put us to April 5, 2006. on that day i remember i went to sleep like 4 AM so i kinda overslept and woke up about 7:10 AM. no problems caus i'm always late to work. i quickly brush my teeth and washed my face. called in to tell them i was stuck in traffic and was gonna be at work by 7:30. threw some clothes on and ran outside to the parking lot. no truck. i been jacked. lolz. i was tripping cause only haveing about 2 1/2 hours sleep i couldnt remember if maybe i parked it someplace else or not. walked around the parking lots.. no truck. called up the police department to see if it got towed or not. i was thinking ... since i was leaking alot of power steering fluid maybe the apartment towed it away. (which makes no sense at all). they confirmed it wasnt towed so i had to file a stolen vehicle report. i was embarrassed about the whole situation so called into work to tell them that i wasnt coming in cause i wasnt feeling well today. spent the rest of wednesday being stuck at home and in a really crappy mood. had a really hard time sleping that night and went to sleep like 4 AM again on thursday morning. woke up 5:45 AM and called in for a cab ride to work. the freakin cab driver cant find my apartment so i ended up being 20 minutes late for work. i was dead broke so called up some friends to see if i could borrow some money to buy a cheap used car. thank goodness i got a homeboy that was cool enough to spot me $1500. i didnt care what kind of car but i needed something to get me back and forth to work. homeboy picks me up after work and we go car shopping. found a car i liked that wasnt too crappy and pulled out my dealer's car and made him an offer. (dont ask how i got an auto dealer card) lol. big problem.. the car had a dead battery. made a good deal and drove the car off the lot back to homeboy who was keeping my wrecked honda for me. the car was having some problems cause it was low on gas or something. i knew if i stopped the engine.. it wouldnt start back up again. made it almost to the friends house and it dies waiting at the light of the busiest intersecton, 2 guys gets out and home helps me push and the other blocks traffic. spends the next hour trying to find a battery for the damn thing so didnt get home til like 10 pm that night.

 its been a few days since i've gotten that car and all in all i got a good deal for the price. right now im so sleepy that im gonna take a nap and write some more about it later. take care and have a wonderful day everyone.

I have no parents - I make the heavens and earth my parents.

I have no home - I make awareness my home.

I have no life or death - I make the tides of breathing my life and death.

I have no divine power - I make honesty my divine power.

I have no means - I make understanding my means.

I have no magic secrets - I make character my magic secret.

I have no body - I make endurance my body.

I have no eyes - I make the flash of lightning my eyes.

I have no ears - I make sensibility my ears.

I have no limbs - I make promptness my limbs.

I have no strategy - I make "unshadowed by thought" my strategy.

I have no designs - I make "seizing the opportunity by the forelock" my design.

I have no miracles - I make right action my miracles.

I have no principles - I make adaptability to all circumstances my principles.

I have no tactics - I make emptiness and fullness my tactics.

I have no talents - I make ready wit my talent.

I have no friends - I make my mind my friend.

I have no enemy - I make carelessness my enemy.

I have no armor - I make benevolence and righteousness my armor.

I have no castle - I make immovable mind my castle.

I have no sword - I make absence of self my sword.

• I have no parents; I make the Heavens and the Earth my parents.
• I have no home; I make the Tan T'ien my home. (Tan T'ien = self)
  
• I have no divine power; I make honesty my Divine Power.
• I have no means; I make Docility my means.
• I have no magic power; I make personality my Magic Power.
• I have neither life nor death; I make A Um my Life and Death. (A Um = neverending soul)
  
  
• I have no body; I make Stoicism my Body.
• I have no eyes; I make The Flash of Lightening my eyes.
• I have no ears; I make Sensibility my Ears.
• I have no limbs; I make Promptitude my Limbs.
• I have no laws; I make Self-Protection my Laws.
• I have no strategy; I make the Right to Kill and the Right to Restore Life my Strategy.
• I have no designs; I make Seizing the Opportunity by the Forelock my Designs.
• I have no miracles; I make Righteous Laws my Miracle.
• I have no principles; I make Adaptability to all circumstances my Principle.
• I have no tactics; I make Emptiness and Fullness my Tactics.
  
  
• I have no talent; I make Ready Wit my Talent.
• I have no friends; I make my Mind my Friend.
• I have no enemy; I make Incautiousness my Enemy.
• I have no armour; I make Benevolence my Armour.
• I have no castle; I make Immovable Mind my Castle.
• I have no sword; I make No Mind my Sword.