How Maine's Red Snapper Hot Dogs Rose To Popularity

Every dog has its day, but does every state have its own hot dog? You're probably familiar with the Chicago Red Hot, the New Jersey Italian Dog, and Hawaiian Puka Dog, but what about the official frankfurter from the Vacationland state? When it comes to the north-easternmost state, Maine can indeed boast its very own glizzy: the Red Snapper hot dog. You'd be forgiven for thinking this wiener has any fish in it, since it's also the state of the famed lobster roll. But the Red Snapper hot dog has a distinct history all its own, going back to the 1940s.

The Bangor-based butcher shop, W.A. Bean & Sons, can lay claim to the garishly red weenie, as the family-run business has been around before the idea of a hot dog even existed in the United States. Founded in 1860, the family operation was a small-time slaughterhouse before growing into a major meat wholesaler that's still around today. According to David Bean, the president of the company today, the outfit recruited German sausage-makers who had fled to New York after WWII to come up to Maine and teach them how to make hot dogs, Old World-style. 

The origin of the red color is a bit murkier. Bean's uncle claimed it was a German practice to dye your dog to make it stand out; others said it was just a marketing tactic first employed by the Danes to perk up older sausages as they went on sale.

What makes this dog so darn delectable? For starters, it's in the name. There's plenty of obnoxiously red hot dogs in the world, but the "snapper" part is important — the ground meat sticks quite literally snap when you bite into them. The secret lies in the dogs' natural casings; while most modern hot dogs use artificial ones (which is often cellulose or plastic), Bean & Sons stands by the old-school tradition of using sheep intestines to encase their franks. "A natural casing is where you get the snap," David Bean explained to a Maine's NBC News affiliate. "That's what people are looking for."

Even though folks today are a little more cautious about artificial dyes in their food, the Red Snapper hot dog shows no signs of slowing down. There's a yearly festival dedicated to the fire engine red dog every August in Dexter, Maine, sponsored by none other than W.A. Bean & Sons. 

And for the company that put them on the map, they're evolving with the times, too. David Bean has recently mentioned that they are exploring the option of a Red Snapper made with all-natural food coloring. And if you simply can't get past that red dye, the company also offers the snapping dogs in their all-natural color, too.