[MGSA-L] Coney: The Hot Dog That Fed Detroit's American Dream

June Samaras june.samaras at gmail.com
Mon Jul 16 22:38:39 PDT 2012


Coney: The Hot Dog That Fed Detroit's American Dream

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/07/03/156214351/coney-the-hot-dog-that-fed-detroits-american-dream

July 16, 2012

by Maria Godoy

    Coneys are so associated with Greek American culture in the
Detroit area that when he opened his diner along Woodward Avenue in
1964, William Lipson — who isn't Greek — felt compelled to name it
Athens.


Take a hot dog from New York's famed Coney Island, throw in plenty of
Greek immigrants and a booming auto industry, add some chili sauce, a
steamed bun, chopped onions, mustard and an epic sibling rivalry and
you've got the makings of a classic American melting pot story.

That story is told in Coney Detroit, a new book that serves as paean
for what's become the quintessential dish of the Motor City. Coneys —
a name that designates not just the dogs but the diners that serve
them up — dominate the Detroit landscape. Where many other cities
offer the chance to navigate by national chain (turn right at the
third Starbucks), in Detroit, directions come in Coneys.

"I'm comfortable saying there are about 500 Coneys at any given time,"
in the Detroit region, says Coney Detroit co-author Joe Grimm, who has
done some serious investigative digesting on the project — including
visiting 100 Coneys in 100 days. (Proceeds from the book will go to
Detroit's Gleaners' Food Bank.)

The history of Detroit Coneys harks back to the early 20th century,
when thousands of Greek immigrants were streaming into the city's
burgeoning Greektown. But first, they had to stop at New York's Ellis
Island — not too far from the famed amusements of Coney Island, where
Nathan Handwerker was already peddling his famous hot dogs.

No one knows for sure who brought the Coney to Detroit, Grimm says,
but everyone knows who made it famous: William "Bill" and Constantine
"Gust" Keros. Nine decades ago (the exact date is in dispute), the two
Greek brothers opened their hot dog joint, American Coney Island, in
the heart of downtown Detroit — at the intersection of Michigan Avenue
and Lafayette Boulevard, where it still sits today.

Their timing was perfect: In the 1920s, Detroit was a boomtown
"busting at the seams," Grimm says, with workers lured by the solid
salaries at the auto factories. (Ford was paying a whopping 5 bucks a
day!) So many workers were crammed into the city, there wasn't enough
lodging to go around — people rented rooms in 8-hour shifts. In this
bustling environment, a quick grab-and-go lunch was essential. And for
newly arrived Greek immigrants, hot dogs were a relatively cheap
business to break into.

"They were trying to serve American factory workers trying to come in
off a crowded street," Grimm says. "And the best way to turn money in
the restaurant business is to turn tables over fast."

The business was going gangbusters, but eventually Bill and Gust
butted heads, and in 1936, Bill decided to open up his own shop,
Lafayette Coney — right next door. Thus was born one of Detroit's most
storied rivalries, with each Coney drawing fiercely partisan fans.
Even today, Grimm says, there are some Lafayette or American loyalists
"who are beyond middle age who will tell you they've never stepped
into to the other" shop.

Detroit began its long, slow decline mid-century, but the Coneys
survived — thanks to a new generation of Greek immigrants who followed
the exodus to the suburbs, setting up dozens of Coneys, including
several chains. (One of the most successful chains, Kerby's Koney
Island, is run by the extended Keros family.)

Other Michigan cities have also embraced Coneys — in Flint, for
example, the hot dogs come topped with a loose meat topping. But it is
Detroit, one might argue, where Coneys have reached their apotheosis.

Today transplanted Detroiters can order kits to make their own Coneys
at home. (My neighbor in the D.C. suburbs, a Michigan native, likes to
keep frozen chili from the National Coney Island chain on hand at all
times.)

Coneys even provide a major plot line in Jeffrey Eugenides' Pulitzer
Prize-winning epic Middlesex (one character of Greek descent finds
fortune after founding the Hercules Hot Dogs chain).

Coneys, it would seem, have become an essential ingredient in
Detroit's identity. "People who think it's just a messy hot dog,"
Grimm says, "are kind of missing the point."


-- 
June Samaras
2020 Old Station Rd
Streetsville,Ontario
Canada L5M 2V1
Tel : 905-542-1877
E-mail : june.samaras at gmail.com



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