#american-food-history

#american-food-history

It's hard to imagine almost 20 million people streaming into an event spanning 1,200 acres more than 120 years ago. Yet, that's exactly what happened in 1904 when the St. Louis World's Fair flooded Forest Park with extraordinary displays of innovation, technology, and cultural ingenuity. But that's not all. This fair is credited with forever changing the face of American food.

It has been a beloved fixture across the United States since immigrants from Germany and other European countries started selling them in the New York City and Chicago areas. It began in the late 1800s, and the glizzy has since gone nationwide. Americans love hot dogs so much that they eat up to 20 billion of them a year ... and that number is projected to go up over the next decade.