The first Oscar Mayer Wienermobile hits the streets of Chicago - July 18th, 1936

On this day in 1936, Oscar Mayer’s original Wienermobile made its debut in the company’s hometown of Chicago. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This Day in History Class is a production of I
Heart Radio. Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class,
a show for those interested in the big and small
moments of history. I'm Gay Bluesier, and in this episode,

(00:21):
we're taking a closer look at the history of a
true American icon, the Oscar Meyer Wiener Mobile. Long May
it ride. The day was July nineteen thirty six. Oscar

(00:43):
Meyer's original Wiener Mobile made its debut in the company's
hometown of Chicago. The car was custom built by the
General Body Company and was made to resemble a thirteen
foot long German sausage hot dog or Wiener. In the
months years to come, the soon to be iconic vehicle

(01:03):
would make regular appearances at schools, hospitals, town festivals, and parades,
as well as grocery store openings. These days, Oscar Meyer
has an entire fleet of hot dog themed vehicles, which
are frequently taken on tours all over the US. In
the beginning, though, the Wienermobiles stuck close to home and

(01:23):
could only be found on the streets of Chicago. Oscar
f Meyer first got into the meat business in eighteen
seventy three when he moved from Bavaria to the United
States at the age of fourteen. He started working as
a butcher's boy in Detroit, Michigan, and later took a
job as a meat packer in Chicago. In eighteen eighty three,

(01:45):
Oscar and his brother Gottfred opened their first shop there.
Business was strong from the start, especially in the city's
predominantly German neighborhoods, where there was built in demand for
traditional sausages like broadwurst and liverwurst. In less than a decade,
the brother's steady success allowed them to expand their store front,

(02:06):
hire more employees, and launch a citywide delivery service. By
nineteen o four, the Oscar Meyer name was so recognizable
that the shop started branding its meats, which was not
the norm for the industry at the time. Fifteen years later,
in nineteen nineteen, the Myers further expanded their operation by

(02:26):
purchasing their own meat packing plant in Wisconsin. By the
nineteen thirties, prepackaged Oscar Meyer sausages, now build as Wieners,
could be found in grocery stores across the country. The
company's branding had evolved as well. Customers were now encouraged
to look for the yellow band found on all Oscar
Meyer products, which was meant to be a halo representing

(02:50):
the high quality of the meat. This smart approach to
marketing was taken to the next level in nineteen thirty
six when Carl Meyer, Oscar's nephew, suggested building a car
in the shape of their flagship product. It was a
silly idea, but it proved to be perfectly timed. The
country was still in the grips of the Great Depression,

(03:12):
and Carl knew that a giant metal hot dog on
wheels was a guaranteed way to lift people's spirits while
also spreading brand awareness. Of course, the company signed off
on Carl's idea, and the General Body Company of Chicago
was tapped to design and build the world's first Wiener Mobile.
It rolled out of the factory on July eighteenth of

(03:33):
that year, and the original driver was none other than
Carl Meyer himself. Unlike later versions, the original Weener Mobile
was just the Wiener. The familiar yellow bun wasn't incorporated
into the design until nineteen The first car also lacked
any kind of enclosure or windshield. Instead, there were two

(03:55):
open air cockpits, one in the center for the driver
and one in the rear for a passenger. The sight
of Carl's head and torso sticking out of a giant
mechanical hot dog became a common sight in the Windy City,
but by nine forty a glass enclosure was added to
protect the driver. As the decades went by, the driver

(04:15):
changed too. Throughout the nineteen thirties, forties, and fifties, Oscar
Meyer employed several different dwarf actors to portray their new
company mascot, Little Oscar, the world's smallest chef. During that time,
the character also assumed driving duties for the Wienermobile, as
the company believed his small stature would make the already

(04:36):
oversized car seem all the more impressive. The first and
arguably most memorable Little Oscar was actor mine Heart Rob.
He worked for Oscar Meyer for decades, but is best
known today for his performance in The Wizard of Oz,
where he played the coroner who certified the death of
the wicked Witch. I'm already examined not only fairly dead.

(05:10):
With Little Oscar behind the wheel, the Winer Mobile became
more popular than ever, even as the company branched into
other processed meats like bologna and bacon. The Winer Mobile
remained the rolling embodiment of its proud hot dog heritage.
That said, it did hit a few potholes on the
road to pop culture immortality. During World War Two, the

(05:32):
Winer Mobile was decommissioned due to gas rationing, and even
though it returned to the road in nineteen fifty two,
most of the public lost interest in the kitschy car
over the next two decades. By nineteen seventy seven, it's
popularity had dipped so low that oscar Meyer shut down
the program entirely and pulled all five of its Winner

(05:52):
Mobiles from service. That sad day marked the beginning of
an eleven year period of darkness until nine teen six,
when oscar Meyer brought back the Weinermobile for its fiftieth anniversary.
By then, a whole generation of kids had grown up
to be hot dog hungry adults, and their nostalgia for
the Winer Mobile made them turn out in droves to

(06:15):
see it. The car's enthusiastic reception convinced oscar Meyer to
make its comeback permanent. A new fleet was commissioned, and
two years later, six twenty three foot long fiberglass hot
Dogs began cruising the country once again. The car's design
has changed numerous times in the decades since its resurrection,

(06:36):
but to this day, the Weener Mobile is still out
there brightening people's days. It's not alone either. Since the
turn of the twenty first century, Oscar Meyer has made
several creative additions to its fleet, including the Mini Wiener
Mobile built on the chassis of a Mini Cooper, the
Wiener Rover and all terrain off road vehicle, the Weenie

(06:58):
Bago of full sized dar be and the Weener Cycle,
a three wheeled moped. You won't find little Oscar and
the driver's seat anymore, though. Instead, twelve lucky college graduates
are chosen each year to spend the next twelve months
touring the nation in one of six official Wiener mobiles.
To qualify for the coveted position, each driver, known as

(07:22):
a hot Dogger, has to first complete about forty hours
of training behind the wheel. Once that's done, the hot
Doggers typically pair off with one person doing the driving
while the passenger smiles and waves two passers by. And yes,
there's a penny name for that position as well. It's
known as riding shot bun. Contrary to popular belief, the

(07:45):
Weener Mobile doesn't hand out actual hot dogs. It is, however,
loaded with just about every kind of promotional item you
could think to give away, including key chains, lanyards, plush toys,
and even vanity license plates. But of course any fan
will tell you that the most coveted freebee of all
is the iconic Weener whistle. First introduced in nineteen fifty one,

(08:09):
these two inch long, four note plastic kazoos are shaped
just like the full sized vehicle. They were originally distributed
in packages of Oscar Meyer hot dogs, with the idea
being that kids could blow the whistle to let others
know that the Weener Mobile had been spotted in their neighborhood.
For the last few decades, though the only place to
get the official whistle is from the hands of a

(08:32):
hot dogger. The whistles themselves became a rare commodity in
when the COVID nineteen pandemic put a halt to the
ongoing tour. But you can't keep a good hot dog down,
and I'm happy to say that the Weener Mobile is
now back on the road again, spreading hot dog love
and tiny plastic whistles wherever it goes. So if you

(08:52):
live in the States, keep an eye out this summer,
and if you see it heading your way, be sure
to give a whistle. I'm Gave Lousier and hopefully you
now know a little more about history today than you
did yesterday. If you have a second and you're so inclined,
consider following us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at t

(09:14):
d i HC Show. You can also rate and review
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media dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show,
and thank you for listening. I'll see you back here
again tomorrow for another day in history class. Everyone would

(09:56):
be