Nader has done some great things for safety in automobiles. I believe he said he would give up driving in cars. I get the impression he now intends to give up eating in New York.

The next thing you know he will no longer wear clothes because of defective labeling, and that could result in his total exposure.

The article also mentions Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Cook Book.

Trivia Time The Jets’ linebacker coach in Super Bowl III was Buddy Ryan, father of current head coach Rex Ryan, a possible entrant in the 2010 Nathan’s finals.

The Colts’ head coach in Super Bowl III was Don Shula, who would later lead the Miami Dolphins to an undefeated season and found a chain of steak houses offering a 48 ounce steak challenge which has been completed almost 35,000 times.

Hot Dog Salad Dressing. For six servings, grind eight hot dogs with one-half teaspoon dry mustard, two tablespoons milk, one tablespoon pickle relish and one-third cup of mayo. Think about that for a second. That’s 1.3 hot dogs per salad serving. This is nothing more than a ploy to sell hot dogs.

• 1986 Record holder is listed as Walter Paul, who ate 17 in 1978. Walter Paul is the reported winner of a 1967 contest.
• 1986 title match – Record is mentioned as 13.5, set several years before
• 1982 – record is mentioned as 14 by Jim Mattner, who served as contest judge. (No article about a contest won by Mattner is present in the news archive)

Some notes about the contests:

• 1986 title match, Hiroaki Tominaga was the first reported Japanese competitor in a Nathan’s contest. At 6 feet, 6 inches and 264 pounds, he is considerably larger than Nobuyuki “the Giant” Shirota. While in New York City, he competed in the Empire State Building staircase race and finished last.
• 1984 Birgit Felden is the only reported female winner of a July 4 contest. She is now a business professor unless there are multiple Birgit Feldens from Cologne.
• 1981 It was not clear from the contest report if the duration was 5 minutes or the winner stopped eating after that time and had a large enough margin to win.
• 1978 Co-champion Kevin Sinclair was 10 years old
• 1974 Atlantic City – this is the first reported contest outside Coney Island. The runner-up, Carmen Cordero, might be the winner of the first two Wing Bowls.
• 1972 Labor Day – After her victory, Melody Andorfer said “I’m determined not to let those male chauvinist pigs dominate us any longer.” She would model swimsuits in articles about Coney Island in 1973 and 1974.
• 1967 – this contest was held to commemorate the centennial of the hot dog. It is difficult to believe that Walter Paul ate 127 hot dogs in an hour, but that is what is in the news archive.

The following contests are mentioned in the news archives, but no winners were reported for them:

The 1973 labor day weekend contest was changed to a corn on the cob contest due to a lack of meat. The unnamed winner ate 4 ears in less than 3 minutes.

In Boca Raton, a hot dog capital of another ilk, the orgy begins Saturday at noon at Nathan’s in Boca Village Town Square (pick up entry forms there). No weenies among the judges either. The strong-willed group includes Boca Vice Mayor Steve Abrams, Supervisor of Elections Theresa LePore

Theresa LePore would go on to receive greater notoriety as the designer of the “butterfly ballot” used in Palm Beach County in the controversial 2000 election.