Most people (know) what a hot dog (be). It (be) a sausage in a roll. But you (know) why it (be called) a hot dog? Well, the long red sausage which (go) into a hot dog (be called) a frankfurter; it (get) its name from the German town of Frankfurt. The sausages (be) very popular in the 1900s but hot frankfurter (be) difficult to sell in crowds. One man, Harry M. Stevens, (have) the job of feeding the crowds in baseball games. He (have) an idea! Why not (put) the frankfurters in long ht bread rolls? This (make) them easy to sell and people to eat. Stevens (add) mustard and (call) them red-hots.
The “red-hots” (have) a hot and spicy taste and (become) very popular. But, in 1903, an American cartoonist (draw) a long German sausage dog in place of the frankfurter. They (be) both long, and “German”, so a frankfurter in a roll soon (become) known as “hotdog”. It (be) a joke, but some people really (think) the sausages (contain) dog meat! For a while, sales of hot dogs (fall) but not for long!