A little trivia
http://www.coneyislandlunch.com/ Coney Island has been serving its delicious hot dogs for generations to generations, everyday but Tuesday.
Founded in 1918, George’s Coney Island remains in its landmark location at 158 Southbridge Street in downtown Worcester, Massachusetts. In 1938, its namesake George Tsagarelis expanded his "store" to include its art deco design, wooden booths, tile floor and all-important counter.
In 1940, he added the Romanoff designed 60 foot neon sign. Modeled after George’s hand, the hot dog dripping mustard sign has welcomed hot dog lovers and seekers of the secret sauce as well as photographers and artists from all over the world.Today, George’s family continues to serve up incredibly delicious hot dogs that have been acclaimed as Worcester’s Best of Best year after year. Taste a delicious part of a Worcester tradition. Most of all experience for yourself the delicious hot dogs at George’s Coney Island. Coney Island Lunch 158 Southbridge St Worcester MA 01608
http://cache.travel.boston.com/places/newengland/stories/050202_ne_nostalgia_2.html Coney Island Lunch, Worcester Four stories high and wide as a truck, the Coney Island Hot Dog sign - giant neon mustard-dripping hot dog and all - burns against the Worcester sky, a beacon to all who seek a classic Coney dog. Ladies and gents have sauntered into Coney to order "three up" hot dogs with chili, mustard, and onions since
George Tsagarelis opened the place in 1923.
In 1938 he added a bar, the sign, and a spiffy art deco/moderne decor and little has changed since. The dark streamlined bar with its stepped deco tables in moody greens has the austere feel of a Hopper painting. But the hot dog side with its orange and lime sherbet-colored concrete walls, simple wood booths, and red Formica tabletops smacks of the beach. Both sides were a familiar site to the crowd that came here back when hot dogs were a dime and Coney was open until 4 a.m. "Years ago during the war, the soldiers would come in from Devens with their dates and it was mobbed. In those days, there were bands coming through, and when the clubs closed down they'd come to Coney. They'd stay all night and the music would be going," says Solon Tsandikos, Tsagarelis's son-in-law who inherited Coney with his wife. Today the Kayem hot dogs go for $1.05, but Tsandikos is too sentimental to change the decor. Especially dear are the booths where layers of graffiti cover the wood. "Just recently a couple from California came in. They courted here in the '40s, and he wrote her name in a heart on one of the booths. They found it. How can I get rid of that?" Tsandikos asks. Coney's Goliath of a sign is a keepsake from another era as well. It's as if the immigrant myth was wrought into its shape right along with the framing. Fresh out of Russia, Stanislav Romanoff designed this most American of symbols - big, kitschy neon - for fellow immigrant Tsagarelis, who was just a teen when he left his small town in Greece for New York City. Tsagarelis "had a fascination with Coney Island when he first came over. He went from restaurant to restaurant and acquired the culinary art, how to make the chili sauce. Then he came up with the grand idea," says Tsandikos.
http://www.kayem.com/about/index.htm Kazimierz Monkiewicz began his pushcart handmade sausage business in 1909, shortly after he and his wife Helena emigrated from Poland and settled in Chelsea, Massachusetts. His handmade specialty sausages were delivered fresh to his customers in his horse drawn wagon. He and Helena grew the business into a retail store and the next generation refocused it primarily on wholesaling.
Ninety-eight years later, not only does
Kayem manufacture products for the deli but they continue to distribute them. The product line now includes hot dogs, traditional Italian sausages, deli meats, and fresh gourmet chicken sausage. Some of our well known brands include: Kayem Old Tyme Hot Dogs, Genoa Sausage, Triple M Spiral Hams and al fresco all natural Chicken Sausage.
The Chelsea plant, with over 500 employees, has grown with the latest addition to over 200,000 square feet. The new addition includes a state of the art continuous Frankfurt operation. In addition to the Chelsea plant, Kayem operates the Genoa Sausage company in Woburn MA, which is the largest fresh sausage manufacturer in New England