The strange origins of Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest isn't exactly the one that is advertised

The Fourth of July means a lot of things to a lot of different people, but for many, it is a holiday associated with eating hot dogs.

That is because Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest has become widely associated with Independence Day. Who isn’t entertained and mesmerized by legends like Joey Chestnut eating more than 70 hot dogs in ten minutes?

But the story’s origin is as confusing as the tradition itself.

The contest is said to have begun in 1916, the same year that Nathan Handwerker opened his iconic hot dog restaurant in Coney Island. More via Nathan’s Franks:

“Legend has it that on July 4, 1916, four immigrants gathered at the very first Nathan’s Famous hot dog stand in Coney Island and made eating contest history. As the story goes, they were competing to see who was the most patriotic. How did they determine the winner? With a hot dog-eating contest, of course!”

That sounds all fine and good, of course. However, that story is simply a “legend” and nothing more than that.

In fact, it is reportedly one that is fabricated by “press agents” hired by Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs named Max Rosey and Mortimer Matz.

Here are more details from an article published in 2016, via The New York Times:

“[Rosey and Matz] also dreamed up the hot dog eating contest in the early 1970s, although they insisted, and the press gullibly reported, that they were reviving a tradition that dated to 1916 … More recently, their publicity protégés, George and Richard Shea, embellished the creation myth, attributing it to an argument between immigrants overheard by Nathan Handwerker on the Fourth of July, about who was the most patriotic American among them.”

In reality, the first records of the contest existing at all did not come until 1967 and 1972. There is no record of a winner during a competition held on July 4 until 1974.

The contest didn’t become an officially sanctioned event until 1997. That is when the Shea brothers, who took over publicity for Nathan’s in the mid-1990s, founded the International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE) and Major League Eating (MLE).

No matter the origins, however, the contest’s popularity is undeniable.

Approximately 35,000 fans annually gather on Coney Island to watch the events in person and, per Nathan’s site, more than millions watch at home via the ESPN telecast.