Cool Hot Dog History purchase !

I originally posted about this in the restaurant professionals forum,but figured it would be of more interest to the Hot dog fanatics (which I am proudly one of!)that hang out on this forum!

I posted awhile back about a copper hotdog steamer that I bought off ebay that was used on Coney Island in the early 1900's that I thought was pretty cool.I just bought a piece of hot dog history that is even more interesting. I was on Ebay the other night checking out Hot dog equipment when I came across a grill titled "Honeymooners Ralphs Hot dog Stand".It is the Hot dog grill used in the filming of the Honeymooners episode #33 "Honeymooners Hot dog Stand" in 1953 .Ralph and Norton open up a hot dog stand on route 22 in Jersey.I couldn't believe it.I emailed the seller to ask them how they could authenticate that it was that exact grill.They emailed me back and assured me it was the same grill,and they would give me a letter of authenticity with it if I purchased it.They are a major prop company that supplies props to the tv and movie industry and they bought out Kabrams supply,which was a major prop company that supplied props to the movie and tv industry,and supplied most of the props to the Honeymooners.They were located in the Bowery in NYC.They customized the grill with the sneeze guard and hand painted "Frankfurters sign on the front just for the Homeymooners episode,and has been sitting in their storage department since for over fifty years! I looked up the Honeymooners episode on you tube,and there was the exact grill in the video being used by Ralph and Norton,and it's actually a very funny episode.I was blown away! I dig that kind of stuff! The amazing thing was that they had a "buy it now " of $350 or "Best offer".I offered them $275,but they did not reply back so I just clicked "buy it now" because I would have been depressed for about a month if I lost it . I went to pick it up and they said since I was paying cash they would take $275 I offered,they were very nice people,and I walked out with my piece of hot dog history feeling like I just robbed a bank! This is perfect timing too since I am just finishing the total renovation and remodeling of one of my Waymatic concession trailers.I am working on a great spot right now in North Jersey,and will post the location when the deal is done.I will be selling Grilled Sabretts(Grilled on the Honeymooners grill of course!lol!),sausage and peppers,Italian hot dogs,Sabrett fresh dipped corn dogs,and fries. I am thinking about using the copper Hot dog steamer from Coney Island to steam my buns,talk about 2 cool functional pieces of Hot dog history in one concession trailer! I want to make up a little display that people can look at while they are waiting for their order showing pictures of the grill being used in the honeymooners episode and how their Hot dog is being grilled on a piece of history!! The grill is actually all in tact,and in nice shape,especailly for being in storage for over 50 years.I polished all the stainless with a polish that has jewelers rouge in it and it came out really shiny.I am taking the grill top plate to a company to polish it to a mirror finish,and I am going to remove the original glass and store it away for historical purposes,and have new glass cut for the sneeze guard,so the grill will look brand new. I am not good with posting links or pictures,but on the post I posted in the professionals forum someone was nice enaough to post a link to the ebay auction,or you can go on ebay and type in
200207601422 in the search bar,that was the auction number and the auction will come up and you can see pictures of it.If you want to see the honeymooners episode with the grill in it,just go on you tube and look up "Honeymooners Hot dog stand" and the grill is shown in parts 3 and 4.Sorry about the long winded post,but I thought you hot dog fanatics would be interested in something like this!

Great Stuff.Sorry I missed it...Russ

What a great story...best of luck...use the Honeymooners connection when you open!!!

As a hot dog fan and an even bigger fan of the Honeymooners, this is a great story. Let us know when you open and I'm sure many of us will take a look and have some dogs.

I watched the episode. What exactly did you get for 375? it looks like you would need a semi to lug it off. Could you please give us a little more info?

If you watch the episode you will see the hot dog grill on the left hand side of the set.It has a "Frankfurters"sign on the front,and a glass sneeze guard on top.It's not that big it's about 2 feet by 2 feet roughly and weighs about 80lbs.The best $275 I ever spent! If it would have taken a tractor trailer to pickit up,I would have still been okay,I have 2 twenty foot straight trucks with a liftgate,and a tractor trailer
to haul stuff to my warehouse!

Great find

I would like to put the image which I got from ebay and most of your post above on my website.
I'll create a page for the past treasures.

Thanks

John

I remember seeing that brand of grill in lunch places in NYC in the 60's. Back then the new and used restaurant equipment supply district was on the Bowery, so the prop company probably just went down the street and picked up a used grill. I think the type of places that used those grills were the type that switched to the roller grills. Those pictures sure bring back memories.

Great, fun post. The best of luck to you. You're on your way now.

quote:

Originally posted by John Sagi

Great find

I would like to put the image which I got from ebay and most of your post above on my website.
I'll create a page for the past treasures.

Thanks

John

That would be great John! I will get my step son to post pictures of the grill(all polished up!) and copper steamer when I can get hold of him.I will post pictures of them in my trailer when it's finished.

Thanks everyone for the nice replies.I really am excited about the nostalgia and history of those pieces,and I knew this forum was the place to share my enthusiasm.I can't believe how many 20 somethings never heard of the Honeymooners! My family is pretty excited about it. I have always loved the nostalgia of the 40's and 50's and the drive in restaurants,and road side stands .When I was growing up in the 70's most kids wanted to be like Fonzi on Happy Days,but I wanted to be Arnold the Drive in owner!!Lol!

Dreams do come true....can you post a picture of your nostalgic set-up?

quote:

Originally posted by leethebard

Dreams do come true....can you post a picture of your nostalgic set-up?

Thanks for the nice reply! I will post a picture of the trailer with the grill in it when it's finished.I have been super busy ,but plan on finishing the renovation of the trailer very soon.

Hello all ,

Great find , I love the Honeymooners . Make sure to let us know your location when you open and we will ensure the members of Hot Dog Nation pay you a visit .

One of these days Festivalfood , one of these days , pow !!! right to the grill .
Hahahhaha

Benzee

Very, very cool.

quote:

Originally posted by Benzee

Hello all ,

Great find , I love the Honeymooners . Make sure to let us know your location when you open and we will ensure the members of Hot Dog Nation pay you a visit .

One of these days Festivalfood , one of these days , pow !!! right to the grill .
Hahahhaha

Benzee

That's Great! Thanks Benzee !

quote:

Originally posted by MilwFoodlovers


Very, very cool.

Thanks MilwFoodlovers! I appreciate the picture,I am not good with that stuff.That is how the grill looked after being in the prop company's warehouse for over 50 years! It shined up really nice,and looks great now.The hand painted sign actually looks better in person,the ebay photos make it look a little sloppy,but in person it's nice and clean and sharp,and in great shape. Thanks again!!

Jim

Nice......

I recently posted in another thread about a photographer by the name of Charles W Cushman, google him.
He has quite a few pictures of early hot dog vending carts in his collection. Repoductions can be purchased there also.
One neat photo was of a vendor selling hot sweet potatos off a NYC cart fired by wood. Hey, it was the depression, people did what they had to do to make ends meet. Chow Jim

I posted last week in the Pro's section, but this history does belong here! What a find to say the least... I have the Honeymooners "Classic 39 Collection", which I thought was the full set, well, at least until tonight... (episode 33 in that collection is "Unconventional Behavior" where Norton gets locked up in handcuffs, but both Norton and Ralph need to be at the annual Raccoon Convention)..
After a bit of research, it seems it's one of the lost episodes (so one website tells me)... I should have waited a few more months before I ordered this collection, now I'll be ordering the other one..
Either way, good find Festivalfood! That is too awesome, and thanks for sharing us the info and pictures...

33. Hot Dog Stand
First aired: 10/10/1953
Ralph and Norton want to buy a hot-dog stand in New Jersey, but they need six hundred dollars first. The Kramdens have $158 in their bank account, but it's a joint account and Alice won't let Ralph use the money. Ralph is bitter over this because Alice has caused him to miss other opportunities in the past. It's the same story with Norton and Trixie, so the boys are forced to go first to friends and relatives for the money, and finally to a bank. Mr. Foster, the banker, refuses to lend Ralph and Norton the money, until Norton mentions that they were planning to work their regular jobs nights and run the hot-dog stand during the day. Foster is impressed with their dedication and approves the loan. Alice and Trixie help the boys get the stand ready for the grand opening, while Ralph and Norton practice a code that's supposed to help provide quick and efficient service. Things look rosy when a customer tells Ralph and Norton that a building is going up right down the road from the stand, but their bubble is burst when they learn that the building is going to be a Howard Johnson's restaurant.
Running time: 34:49
(Above info from www.tv.com)

Thanks for the update UncleVic ! I have to order the DVD collection now! I think it's pretty cool too! I knew I would find the same enthusiasm here as I have for something like this.It's funny,when I tell people about it in the general public some people think it's really neat to find something like this,and others act like "who cares",and these are people I know.I guess different things trip different peoples triggers!I was telling a bunch of guys I know over in NYC,we do the trucking for one of the trade show companies who promote the trade shows at the Jacob Javitz center,West Side Highway piers,Hilton hotel etc.in the city.One of the supervisors had an Iphone,and pulled the Honeymooners Hot Dog stand episode up on it and we had about 10 guys watching the video,and they all thought it was very cool to actually see it in the episode.One of the guys said"You actually own That Grill? I was like a proud little kid,and said "Yep!!",and it ain'tfor sale!