A Polish-born immigrant, his wife’s recipe and a stand by the beach.

Nathan’s Famous began as a hot dog stand on the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues in Coney Island, Brooklyn, in 1916. The New York Times, in a report dated 15 May 2011, says the stand was opened by Nathan Handwerker, a Jewish immigrant from Poland, and his wife, Ida. A History.com article dated 4 December 2012 describes Nathan as a Polish-born immigrant and says the hot dogs followed a recipe cooked up by Ida.

Before he had a stand of his own, Handwerker worked for a competitor. English Wikipedia says he arrived in New York City in 1912 and soon found work at Feltman’s German Gardens, a Coney Island restaurant. A Business Insider video report from December 2019 tells the same story: one of Feltman’s employees left to open his own hot dog stand on the corner of Surf and Stillwell, using his wife’s secret recipe.

How the couple paid for the stand is told in more than one way. The New York Times wrote in 2011 that Nathan and Ida opened it with money borrowed from the entertainers Jimmy Durante and Eddie Cantor, friends of Nathan who had yet to become stars. English Wikipedia, citing the company’s own history, says the couple spent their life savings, and notes that the company’s history does not mention the two entertainers.

The stand’s pitch was the hot dog itself and its price against the neighbours. The Times says Nathan’s sold all-beef hot dogs and undercut its Coney Island competitor on price. Wikipedia, citing a 1999 history of fast food from Johns Hopkins University Press, adds that at a time when the hot dog’s ingredients were viewed with suspicion, Handwerker made sure men wearing surgeon’s smocks were seen eating at his stand to reassure customers.

The stand drew attention well beyond Brooklyn. History.com writes that by the middle of the twentieth century Nathan’s had become a favourite of famous visitors, and that President Franklin D. Roosevelt served Nathan’s frankfurters to the king and queen of England during their 1939 visit to his Hyde Park home. The original corner is still the brand’s home address in the public mind: History.com called it the flagship location, and in the 2019 Business Insider report a member of staff said what began as a small stand now encompasses an entire city block.

Murray Handwerker, a public company, private investors and Smithfield.

The founder’s son turned the stand into a chain. The New York Times says Murray Handwerker grew up behind the counter of the Coney Island store and joined the business in 1946 after Army service in the Second World War. Despite his father’s objections, the Times says, he added shrimp and clams to the menu, and he later added a delicatessen line.

Growth followed under Murray. Wikipedia says a second branch opened on Long Beach Road in Oceanside, New York, in 1959, and another in Yonkers in 1965. The Times says Murray became president in 1968, the year the company went public, oversaw an expansion that added company-owned restaurants and franchised units over the following decade, and became chairman in 1971. The early 1980s were harder: the Times says Nathan’s was struggling and that some restaurants were closed.

The family stepped away in 1987. According to the Times, Murray ran the business until the family sold its stake to the Equicor Group, a private investment company, that year. Wikipedia says franchising then took Nathan’s to many more locations around New York City and beyond, and that in the 1990s the company bought the Kenny Rogers Roasters and Miami Subs Grill chains, both later sold.

Nathan’s Famous is a public company headquartered in Jericho, on Long Island, according to Wikipedia. Its hot dogs are also sold in supermarkets, and History.com credits Murray Handwerker’s expansion for that reach. Since 2014, the Associated Press reported, Smithfield Foods has held the rights to produce and sell Nathan’s products in the United States, Canada and at Sam’s Clubs in Mexico.

That partner is now set to become the owner. The Associated Press reported on 21 January 2026 that Nathan’s Famous and Smithfield Foods had announced an all-cash deal under which Smithfield would acquire all of Nathan’s outstanding shares, with the transaction expected to close in the first half of 2026. The AP noted that Smithfield also owns the Gwaltney bacon and Armour brands, and quoted Nathan’s chief executive, Eric Gatoff, praising Smithfield’s commitment as a long-time partner to investing in and growing the brand.

Design and documentation.

The brands in this group sell hot dogs, sausages, sliced deli meats and breakfast meats, foods that are bought chilled or frozen and are often chosen quickly from a long refrigerated case. Packaging in this category has to work at a glance: a name, a colour and a picture of the food have to be legible through clear film or on a small carton, under bright supermarket lighting, next to many similar packs.

That is why identity in this part of the grocery trade tends to rest on a few repeated signals rather than on a single container. A wordmark, a founder’s name, a slogan, a mascot or a jingle can travel across packs, advertising and sponsorships, while the pack itself changes size and format many times over the decades.

The companies behind these names have often changed hands, merged their factories or moved production, so each guide asks plain questions: who started the brand, who owns it now, where its meat is processed and how its look has been presented. Each separates what independent sources record from what a company says about itself.

Hurricane Sandy, the Fourth of July and Major League Baseball.

For Nathan’s, the place is the identity. History.com reported in December 2012 that the Coney Island flagship had been open every day of the year for nearly a century until 29 October 2012, when Hurricane Sandy flooded Surf Avenue and forced Nathan’s to shut its doors. The same report said the company was rebuilding and planned to reopen the restaurant in the spring of 2013.

The corner is also the stage for the brand’s summer event. The Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest is held at Coney Island on the Fourth of July. History.com noted in 2012 that Nathan’s lore dates the contest to 1916, but that in 2010 a company spokesman told The New York Times the company had evidence of it only from the 1970s, when two press agents devised it for publicity. History.com added that ESPN cameras broadcast the contest every Independence Day.

Baseball gave the name a national platform. Bloomberg reported on 28 March 2017 that Major League Baseball had named Nathan’s Famous the league’s official hot dog, a sponsorship that mainly gives Nathan’s the right to use baseball’s trademarks in its advertising. Bloomberg noted that individual stadiums and teams keep their own hot dog partnerships, and that Nathan’s was already the official hot dog of the Marlins, Mets, Yankees and Cardinals. The deal also made Nathan’s a supporter of the league’s “Play Ball” initiative, which promotes participation in baseball and softball.

The family voice runs through the brand’s history as well. The Times recalls that at the company’s anniversary celebration near the Times Square Nathan’s in 1986, Murray Handwerker answered Mayor Edward I. Koch’s complaint about the end of the cheap hot dog by telling the crowd that it had gone the way of the cheap subway ride.

For a design guide, Nathan’s Famous shows how much a name can carry: a founder’s first name, a single adjective, a street corner by the sea and a date on the calendar. Compare it with the Detroit-born Ball Park, a brand built from a stadium contract, and with the New York franks of Hebrew National. For this guide we use boardwalk green, mustard yellow and sea-salt cream with a serif, an unofficial interpretation; no product or logo is reproduced.

Keep Nathan’s Famous’s identity on hand — save it to a board in the Made Good inspiration library.