Wednesday, August 1, 2012

LEVIS Hot Dog Memories


A  L  O  H  A !
Hot Dog by Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on Grooveshark


Famous twelve-foot high hot dog sign, 
designed by the Philadelphia's own
 Joseph Feldman.
Levis was Established 1895


My Philadelphia childhood 
was a time of the inner city's
 decline, 
including the demise
 of the South Street 
commercial district
 due to massive
 'urban renewal.'










Very few businesses endured, 
like Lester´s Shoes, Krass Brothers
[ Link ]
 and LEVIS HOT DOGS, 
the last hold outs.

Right where that car above
 is parked,
(Sixth St. South Philly)
my father parked
to take me for 
my first 
LEVIS Hot Dog.

I was five,
or six.








  Abe Levis purchased 
this marble soda fountain, 
 used,
 in 1895 for $30.
Still in use in my small kid days,
 Dad said it was the oldest 
Soda Fountain in the world!
It sounds rude,
but that was the day, 
that Dad taught me
how to burp.

Those were 
super carbonated sodas! 

LEVIS was a
 real old place
when I was little.
Pictures of old fashioned men,
with old fashioned names,
were up on the wall:
"The fifty year club."

Hey! 
I think I'm now 
eligible!














Some  say the hot dog
 was created by 
Thomas Francis Xavier Morris,
 a Caribbean immigrant who served them
 in Paterson, NJ 
as early as 1892.

 Others trace the American Classic
 modern hot dog
 to a cartoon 
of a dachshund in a roll
 that was drawn by 
New York Evening Journal
 cartoonist Tad Dorgan 
around 1901. 

Philadelphians believe 
that the sausage-on-a-bun 
 was invented by Abe Levis
 and his wife Anna Solo Levis, 
in their little sandwich shop
 on South Street in 1895. 








Hubba  Hubba !















Ray Kroc invented
 modern fast food.
America became a
 Burger country 
while I was still a kid.


[]


Abe Levis
 came to America
 from Lithuania
 at the age of fourteen. 

 Being a Jew, 
he was about to be drafted
 into the Czar’s army 
for a twenty five year stint
 in the manner of the times


He married Anna Solo
 when he was twenty-one
 and they opened their
 little sandwich shop 
in the heart of 
the South Street business district,
thriving
 with immigrant owned
 businesses in those days

Levis served hot dogs, sandwiches,
 fish cakes, ice cream and sodas. 
And what sodas they were / are!

A fishcake and a hotdog 
could be purchased on the same roll, 
but I forget what they called 
that sandwich. 

Abe produced the carbonation
 for his sodas in the basement!
 [ Link ]

My favorite was the 
chocolate soda
 made to order. 


 But LEVIS
most famous drink 
was Created by 
Abe himself:
 Champ Cherry Soda.

Originally he called it
 "Champagne Cherry"
 but Abe was a Phillies fan 
in the manner of immigrants 
like my Grandfather
who took being 
patriotic Americans 
VERY SERIOUSLY.
When Abe's beloved 
Phillies
 won the National League 
 Championship
 in 1950,
Levis celebrated 
by changing the name 
of his popular soda
 to Champ Cherry.


" Today, 
visionary soft drink guru,
 Elliott Hirsh, 
and his Amazing Beverages company 
are bringing back
 this iconic drink 
for fun, refreshment, 
and with the hope that
 the Phillies
 will win yet another championship.

 'Think Champ! Drink Champ!'"

I'm thinking of having some 
CHAMP CHERRY,
and a few Hot Dogs
 mailed to me here in Hawaii !
Amazing Beverages, Inc may be phoned
 @ 215-886-9356  
 [ Link ]

"Old Original Levis" and "Champ Cherry" 
are registered in the US Patent Office 
by Amazing Beverages, Inc

If you are in North America,
you can have a classic dog
at an authentic shrine near you:

HOT DOGS Near YOU!
 [  LINK ]


Thank YOU
for Summer
reminiscing !


'Take Away Heart Burn - Leave your wisecrack'

                               Warmly, cloudia 

30 comments:

  1. well that was just amazing,

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  2. I am going to share this with Gregg. He is always on a search for a good hot dog.

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  3. Hi
    After so long ! I am looking at your older posts !

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  4. Thanks for that trip down 'memory lane'. I'll take mine with onions, relish... and the works!

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  5. Is that YOU Cloudia in the photos? Oh, must be meat-dressed Lady Gaga's grandma with all the hot dogs for an outfit. I thought Levis were jeans. Didn't know the dog was the thing back East. Kansans don't know anything about stuff east of the Mississippi....DrumMajor

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  6. I like mine best off a street cart in mexico with a grilled bun and lots of onions....mmmmm

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  7. I didn't realize you're from the east coast but it shouldn't surprise me since I feel like we're kindred spirits
    Philly or NY, much the same

    love the Levis sign
    and the Frankfurter Queen :)

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  8. I didn't realize you're from the east coast but it shouldn't surprise me since I feel like we're kindred spirits
    Philly or NY, much the same

    love the Levis sign
    and the Frankfurter Queen :)

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  9. That's quite a history of hot dogs! Great post!

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  10. great post Cloudia! we have hot dog vendors in New Orleans too. (with a famous literary association). I'm going to take more time to go to your links later, but first time through, I thought , "mmmmm, chocolate soda!" thanks, sp

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  11. Hot dogs aren't my thing, but soda can be. I'd love one of those chocolate ones you liked.

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  12. Makes me want a couple of dogs with mustard and spicy mayonaise!

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  13. Strange, I thought that Levis was a Jeans.

    Greetings,
    Filip

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  14. Great Post.
    There is nothing like a good hot dog....wish I had one. (covered with kraut)!!

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  15. Love that neon sign. Great post.

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  16. I'm more a Polish dog with sauerkraut fan. But I liked reading your reminiscences. I think we all have memories of fond places from the past.

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  17. It means a lot to me

    that YOU visit,

    and share your Aloha here!


    Thanks to each of YOU!

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  18. You taught m plenty here! What a post. Next time I head North, I'm stopping in your amazing hometown.

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  19. How jolly that you stopped by!

    Thanks

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  20. a languorous stroll down memory lane!

    namaste /\ from mumbai
    aloha!!

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  21. I loved reading all about the Levis hot dogs. I was scratching my head because I was thinking that was the brand name of hot dog my kosher mom used to buy (in the grocery store) but it finally occurred to me that they were Levitt's. Close but no cigar. Fine post, Cloudia.

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  22. Nope! just as I suspected Cloudia, Perth is not on the 'hotdog' list haha! Love all of this 'retro' post!

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  23. YOU
    are each so jolly
    and kind
    to visit us here.


    Thank YOU

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  24. Thanks for dropping by again :)


    A good post. Cant help smiling

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  25. This was really interesting. I've never heard of Levi's hot dogs. Now you've got me curious. Champ Cherry Soda? :-) Sounds great!

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  26. very cool...yeah sounds about like the place i wrote about today...real simple....pretty cool on the soda as well...this place has the best onion rings too...mmm...

    aloha from va

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