LEVIS Hot Dog Memories

A  L  O  H  A !

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