Wienermobile
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The 1952 Oscar Mayer Wienermobile at the 2005 North American International Auto Show.
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"Wienermobile" is the name for a series of automobiles shaped like a hot dog on a bun which are used to promote and advertise Oscar Mayer products in the United States. The first version was created in 1936 by Oscar Mayer's nephew, Carl G. Mayer, and variants are still used by the Oscar Mayer company today. Drivers of the Wienermobiles are known as Hotdoggers and often hand out toy whistles shaped as replicas of the Wienermobile, known as Wienerwhistles.
Contents
History[edit]
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The Oscar Mayer Wienermobile has evolved from Carl Mayer's original 1936 vehicle[1] to the vehicles seen on the road today. Although gas rationing kept the Wienermobile off the road during World War II, in the 1950s Oscar Mayer and the Gerstenslager Company created several new vehicles using a Dodge chassis or a Willys Jeep chassis. One of these models is on display at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. These Wienermobiles were piloted by "Little Oscar" who would visit stores, schools, orphanages, and children's hospitals and participate in parades and festivals.
In 1969, new Wienermobiles were built on a Chevrolet motor home chassis and featured Ford Thunderbird taillights. The 1969 vehicle was the first Wienermobile to travel outside the United States. In 1976 Plastic Products, Inc., built a fiberglass and styrofoam model, again on a Chevrolet motor home chassis.
In 1988, Oscar Mayer launched its Hotdogger program, where recent college graduates were hired to drive the Wienermobile through various parts of the nation and abroad. Using a converted Chevrolet van chassis, Stevens Automotive Corporation and noted industrial designer Brooks Stevens built a fleet of six Wienermobiles for the new team of Hotdoggers.
With the 1995 version, the Wienermobile grew in size to 27 feet long and 11 feet high.[2] The 2004 version of the Wienermobile includes a voice-activated GPS navigation device, an audio center with a wireless microphone, a horn that plays the Wiener Jingle in 21 different genres from Cajun to Rap to Bossa Nova, according to American Eats, and sports fourth generation Pontiac Firebird taillights.
Following mechanical problems with the Isuzu Elf, Oscar Mayer decided to adopt a larger chassis in order to accommodate an increase in size of the signature wiener running through the middle. While the Wienermobile was not as long as the 1995 version, it was considerably wider and taller. Craftsmen Industries went through numerous overhauls of the truck including a flipped axle and a leveling kit. This version held a record for numerous suspension problems, most leading to the chassis not being able to hold the large weight of the Oscar Mayer Wiener.
In 2004, Oscar Mayer announced a contest whereby customers could win the right to use the Wienermobile for a day. Within a month, the contest had generated over 15,000 entries.[citation needed]
There are eight Wienermobiles in existence.
Source: Oscar Mayer[3]
Drivers[edit]
There are currently eight active Wienermobiles, six of which are the full-sized familiar models (the other two are the Mini and the food truck versions) with each assigned a part of the country. The "hotdogger" position of driving the Wienermobile is open to U.S. citizens, and the job lasts from the first of June until the following first of June. Only college seniors who are about to graduate are eligible. Both current hotdoggers and Oscar Mayer recruiters visit college campuses across the country in search of the next round of hotdoggers. Candidates are screened from an average of 2000 applicants. Every March, a pool of thirty final-round candidates are brought to Kraft Foods and Oscar Mayer headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin, for interviews. Each vehicle can hold two hotdoggers, and twelve people are chosen. Currently there are about 300 hotdogger alumni. U.S. Congressman Paul Ryan was not a hotdogger, but reportedly drove the Wienermobile one time as a guest during a summer job as a Kraft sales representative.[4]
Models[edit]
Toys and scale replicas of the Wienermobile have been made over the years, with both Hot Wheels and Matchbox issuing die-cast versions of the vehicle.
Social media[edit]
A significant amount of the Oscar Mayer Facebook page content is dedicated to the Wienermobile, its history and its current activities.
Accidents and incidents[edit]
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In 1997, an Oscar Mayer Wienermobile promotional vehicle came to a stop inbound on Storrow Drive in Boston, Massachusetts, during rush-hour traffic. The driver feared that he would not be able to fit under a 10-foot pedestrian bridge crossing the busy road. In the photo, he is waiting for assistance (photo 9 in slideshow).
In December 2001, The Wienermobile had to be towed to an auto shop in Austin, Texas, after the engine overheated due to a mishap with the engineering. Numerous suspension cracks had formed alongside the truck. After a long overhaul, the Wienermobile was back on the road touring the Southwest.
In June 2002, a Wienermobile crew was pulled over by police after driving on a road closed to commercial traffic near the Pentagon, just outside Washington, D.C. The drivers were questioned, then directed to the nearest exit without a ticket.[5][6]
In June, 2007, a Wienermobile with the Wisconsin license plate of YUMMY made headlines after being stopped by an Arizona Department of Public Safety officer for having an allegedly stolen license plate. Officer K. Lankow had observed the Wienermobile slowing traffic and checked the license plate to determine if the vehicle was street legal. The license plate came back as being stolen out of Columbia, Missouri,[7] so the officer stopped the Wienermobile and detained the driver. Oscar Mayer had not notified police that they had obtained a replacement plate after the previous one was stolen, and that it should be considered stolen only if not on a Wienermobile. The Wienermobile was released soon after the error was discovered.[8][9][10]
On August 9, 2007, a Wienermobile with the Wisconsin license plate of WEENR was ticketed by Chicago police for parking in a no-parking/no-standing zone on Chicago's Magnificent Mile.[11]
On February 11, 2008, a Wienermobile and several other vehicles slid off of U.S. Route 15 near Mansfield, Pennsylvania due to icy conditions following a winter storm, drawing moderate local media attention. There were no injuries, and the Wienermobile suffered only minor damage.[12]
On July 17, 2009, a Wienermobile on a cul-de-sac in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, was attempting to turn around in a residential driveway. The driver accidentally hit the gas pedal instead of the brake, which lodged the Wienermobile under the house and destroyed a deck.[13]
From June 28, 2009 to July 19, 2009, a Wienermobile visited Hawaii and was met with harsh criticism from the local Outdoor Circle, best known for pushing Hawaii's strict billboard ban through the 1927 legislature. A representative for the Oscar Mayer company insisted that the mobile hot-dog-on-a-bun did nothing wrong. There was no indication that an environmental impact statement would be demanded.
During a rain storm on June 28, 2010, a Wienermobile rear-ended a car in Diboll, Texas, on US 59 at Lumberjack Dr. Both vehicles sustained minor damage, but there were no injuries and no tickets were issued by Diboll police.
Texas State Trooper Corporal Shawn McGee and Corporal Jesse Stewart have stopped the Wienermobile twice in the past two decades for speeding through the small east Texas town of Henderson. [Full articles in Henderson Daily News]
On February 15, 2015, a Wienermobile lost control on an icy road and struck a pole in Enola, Pennsylvania. No injuries were reported.[14]
References[edit]
- ^ "1936 Oscar Mayer Wienermobile". Archived from the original on 2010-10-13. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
- ^ "This Car Is One to Relish". Electronic Gaming Monthly (Ziff Davis) (70): 136. May 1995.
- ^ Cruising in Time
- ^ Gilbert, Craig (April 26, 2009). "Ryan draws inspiration from family, mentors.". Journal Sentinel. Retrieved August 15, 2012.
- ^ http://forums.anandtech.com/archive/index.php/t-832593.html
- ^ Wienermobile Busted Near Pentagon
- ^ Cop pulls over Wienermobile as stolen
- ^ Police officer stops Wienermobile
- ^ "All the Latest Frankfurter Developments". New York Times. June 29, 2007.
- ^ Cops ketchup with Wienermobile
- ^ http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-web_wieneraug10,0,6936594.story
- ^ Wienermobile wipes out
- ^ "Oscar Mayer Wienermobile loses control, crashes into Racine home". July 17, 2009.
- ^ "Wienermobile loses control, smacks into pole in Enola". February 15, 2015.
External links[edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wienermobile. |
- Road Trip America Wienermobile article
- Jon Stewart Wienermobile story
- Barry. Dave. "Wienermobile". Archived from the original on 2012-02-27.
- Curbside Wienermobile Review by Tony Barthel