1996 Nathan’s finals video
Youtube has a brief clip from the 1996 Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest finals in which Ed Krachie edged out Mike DeVito, 22 hot dogs to 20.
Competitive eating articles from NY Times archive
Several articles about competive eating from the New York Times archive which previously required payment are now available for free (in reverse chronological order)
preview of 2005 NJ pizza contest, mentions Pat Philbin
2005 Review of Zen and the Art of Competitive Eating
Short article about Kate Stelnick (she claims to have drunk 14 glasses of water while eating the 96er)
Long 2003 profile of Carson “Collard Green” Hughes
Preview of 2003 Wing Bowl, focuses on Bill “El Wingador” Simmons and “Belly” Donna Villec
Report on the 2002 pelmeni contest
2002 preview of Nathan’s finals, mainly about the Sheas
2002 article about Don Lerman, Badlands Booker & Cookie Jarvis, calls George Shea a “competitive eater since 1988″
2001 profile of Kevin Lipsitz
Article on quick start controversy at 1999 Nathan’s finals
Report on 1999 Nathan’s finals
preview of 1999 Ben’s Deli’s matzoh ball contest
1998 article about Mike DeVito, also mentions start of the IFOCE, originally the International Federation of Hot Dog Eating
1997 interview with Ed Krachie
Report on December 1996 duel between Ed Krachie and Nakajima
1996 Nathan’s final report
1995 Nathan’s finals results
Report on 1995 Nathan’s New Jersey qualifier, contest was 10 minutes long
article on 1994 Nathan’s finals, mentions Curtis Sliwa’s participation
Report on 1990 Nathan’s, says Jay Green & Mike DeVito tied for first place
Preview of 1987 Nathan’s, registrations were still being accepted by phone on July 3
Report on 1984 women’s only pancake contest
1967 Nathan’s winner ate 127 hot dogs
The only instance of a pre-1972 Nathan’s hot dog eating contest I could find in the Google news archive was a June 30, 1967 competition held to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the hot dog:
Champ Eats 127 Hot Dogs
NEW YORK was the 100th anniversary of the hot dog, and Walter Paul, a 400- pound truckdriver, sat down and ate 127 of them with relish, catsup and mustard. Paul, 32, was rewarded for his Ruthian took him one hour (?) a trophy proclaiming him the world’s champion hot dog eater.’ ,The “dog-in” was held at Nathan’s Famous, the Coney Island frankfurter palace. The occasion was to honor Charles Feltman, who slipped a sausage into a roll in 1867 and named the creation “frankfurter” after his birthplace in Frankfurt, Germany.
Melody Andorfer – Nathan’s 1972 Labor Day champion
In the 1970s, Nathan’s held hot dog contests at times other than the fourth of July. The winner of the 1972 Labor Day weekend contest was Melody Andorfer, who ate 12 hot dogs & buns in 5 minutes. The AP did an article on her victory which was printed by several newspapers in the Google News archive:
Nathan’s 23rd annual hot dog eating contest separated the women from the boys at Coney Island Saturday. The woman went to the top. “I can’t believe I ate that all” said the winner, a 105-pound brunette, after she finished 12 seven-inch hot dogs in five minutes, rolls and all. Eighteen-year-old Melody Andorfer, of Astoria, Queens, who belongs to the National Organization for Women and several other liberation groups, drank three large colas with her male runner-up after she beat seven other women and eight men in the contest. Then she had a sandwich for lunch. The runner-up, 260-pound Gary Silverman, 19, Brooklyn, asked the winner for a date after he managed to devour 10 hot dogs during the event. Miss Andorfer, who said she did not feel queasy after the contest, asserted she had ham and eggs, coffee, and orange juice for breakfast. Asked why she entered The contest, Miss Andorfer said, “I’m determined not to let those male chauvinist pigs dominate us any longer.”
No other reports of Ms. Andorfer defending her title or entering another contest can be found online. (A 1973 Coney Island Labor Day weekend hot dog contest was converted to a corn contest due to lack of beef):
Throngs of people flocked to Coney Island on Saturday and some of them found they beat the heat only to encounter another problem: the beef shortage. Because of the lack of beef, a hot dog eating contest was turned into a corn-on-the-cob eating contest. The winner downed four ears of corn in less than three minutes.
After her victory, Melody Andofer does appear on the front pages of two newspaper modeling swimwear at Coney Island:
Charleston Daily Mail Thursday, July 05, 1973
PATRIOTIC DISPLAY- Melodie Andorfer displays a stars and stripes bikini Wednesday at New York’s Coney Island. She was one of thousands who migrated to the beaches on the Independence Day holiday.
The Chronicle Telegram June 1, 1974, Elyria, Ohio
Displaying the Colors One of Melody Andorfer’s lesser known attributes is her ability as a seamstress. Here she models a swim suit she put together for the opening of Coney Island, New York’s summer playground.
NY Times: Nathan’s Wall of Fame has incorrect ’86 champ
Don “Moses” Lerman’s most recent blog entry has a picture of himself at the unveiling of the Nathan’s Wall of Fame. That monument, which lists Don Wolfman as the 1986 winner with 12 hot dogs, needs correction according to this New York Times article:
In a weekend of indulgence, 27-year-old Mark Heller of Manhattan -depending on one’s perspective -might rightfully lay claim to the prize for the most indulgent act.
Mr. Heller, a television commercial producer and director, was crowned the Nathan’s Famous 1986 hot dog-eating champion after consuming 15 1/2 all-beef hot dogs, 6 1/2 inches long – and buns, some with mustard – in 10 minutes.
Mark Heller was inspired by Birgit Felden’s victory in the 1984 contest.
After victory, Mr. Heller searched for bicarbonate of soda and said that the festive atmosphere of Liberty Weekend and seeing a ”German girl who had never eaten a hot dog” win the contest two years ago had prompted him to participate.
15.5 hot dogs would be the best known Nathan’s result from the 1980s. It would be interesting to learn what year the contest changed from 10 to 12 minutes.
Dr. Birgit Felden, 1984 Nathan’s champion
I have wondered about the identity of the woman in the lower right corner of the Nathan’s Wall of Fame in Coney Island and assumed that it was Birgit Felden, the only female champion listed, who won with a total of 9.5 hot dogs. That assumption is bolstered by the claim in “Horsemen of the Esophagus” (p. 222) that Birgit Felden was a pretty 17 year old member of the West German judo team, since that description matches the picture. Googling “Birgit Felden” produces information that Birgit Felden, born in 1967, is now a management consultant with a doctorate who has authored three books along with a current photograph that validates that this Dr. Felden is the pictured Nathan’s competitor.
 1984 |
 2006 |
Steve Keiner, 1999 Nathan’s champion
If you have ever wondered what happened to Steve Keiner, the 1999 Nathan’s Hot Dog Champion who is currently the last non-Japanese to win that title, he is currently in Prague in the Czech republic. (It is not clear if he has moved there or is just vacationing) The Prague Post has an article (in English) describing Keiner’s eating a Czech sausage called a parek. (He finds the parek wanting.) Keiner has been able to cut his weight almost in half from the 416 pounds he weighed when he competed.
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