Hot diggity dog! Wienermobile rolls through Region, spreading whistles, cheer wherever it goes
It's not every day a 27-foot-long hot dog zips down U.S. 41, but when it does, it spreads a special kind of joy, said 'hotdogger' Bridget 'BBQ' Berens.
The Oscar Mayer Wienermobile rolled through the Region, stopping at Strack & Van Til in St. John on Friday afternoon. It returned Sunday to the Strack & Van Til stores in Lowell and Cedar Lake before baring east to Ohio.
Berens and her co-pilot, Cooper 'CoopDawg' Albert, traveled through 25 states before crossing into Northwest Indiana on the annual Wienermobile tour, where a fleet of giant hot dog trucks hit the nation's highways through early summer.
The tradition, while seemingly silly, stems from a time marked by struggle and harsh circumstances, according to Oscar Mayer history.
'The Wienermobile was created during the Great Depression, to bring some cheer and levity to people during a hard time. And now 89 years later we're still out here doing this, it's all a part of that tradition,' Berens said.
In 1936, Carl Mayer, nephew of Oscar Mayer, had an outlandish dream: creating a 13-foot-long hot dog car. The car was in a parade through Chicago, where it cemented its legendary status. History was re-lived on Saturday when the Wienermobile donned green streamers to be in Chicago's St. Patrick's Day Parade.
'Everyone has some story about the Wienermobile,' Berens said. 'It's a special moment, whether it's their first time seeing it or hearing people talk about seeing it 30 years ago when they were kids. Today alone I've heard so many stories from people.'
Berens said when it comes to the coveted 'Wiener Whistle,' she discovered it has become an heirloom of sorts to Midwesterners.
'People have told me they still have their grandma or grandpa's whistle,' Berens said. 'It's a tradition from generation to generation, and to be a part of that is amazing.'
Grace Kleine, of Merrillville, said when she was a child, her grandma told her about getting a Wiener Whistle and taught her the Oscar Mayer Wiener Jingle.
On Friday, Kleine got a whistle of her own and brought along her two rescue pugs, Cici and Ivan – all three dressed as condiments. Tiny T-shirts on the pugs packaged them as ketchup and mustard, with Kleine being the relish of the trio, prompting people to flock to them for photos. Kleine said she had the outfits from last Halloween and figured she'd add to the Oscar Mayer festivities.
'Everyone is so happy to see them,' Kleine said. 'How can you not smile while looking at the Wienermobile? I told my friends, 'You've got to come out and see it, it's a part of American history.''
The Wienermobile itself has gone through many transformations throughout the decades, all while retaining its original hot dog form. The 1952 version of the vehicle is in the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, and iterations since have included Ford Thunderbird tail lights, microwave ovens, refrigerators, car phones, big screen TVs and stereo systems that play 21 versions of the Oscar Mayer Wiener Jingle.
Different versions of the Wienermobile have also marked the epochs of time. In 2015, The Wiener Rover, an all-terrain, off-roading hot dog on wheels was created, and 2016 saw the invention of the motorhome-hotdog combo called the Wienie-Bago, according to Oscar Mayer history.
In 2017, the world welcomed the WienerDrone, an unmanned hotdog-carrying aircraft, and the WienerCycle, a three-wheeled moped. The moped had a sidecar that doubled as a hot dog warming station. Finally, 2018 saw the creation of the Super Hotdogger, a person in a jetpack wearing a utility belt lined with hot dog carrying cases.
Today, the Wienermobile fleet travels an average of 500 miles per week.
'People say we're celebrities, but we're not,' Albert said. 'We're just driving around the celebrity.'
Each vehicle is manned by two 'hotdoggers' who compete with thousands of applicants in a four-month-long interview process that will come down to just 12 hired individuals. Albert is from Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, and Berens is from Elm Grove, Wisconsin. Now, they're reaching near the end of their travels in June.
'We've been through 25 states, and I feel like I met the soul of America,' Albert said. 'Seeing people united in kindness and joy over giant hot dogs. We're in a new city every week. It's been an amazing adventure.'
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