“Oh, I wish I were an Oscar Mayer wiener…”
That catchy refrain was one that my childhood pals and I would sing while going to and from school. I think I learned to love hot dogs because of baseball, or maybe I learned to love baseball because of hot dogs. Whatever, they — and that jingle — have been part of my life forever. Long ago, a friend who worked for Oscar Mayer gave me a plastic model of the company’s Wienermobile. That hooked me on the kitschy merchandise connected to the Wienie on Wheels. I’ve been a fan ever since. I’m happy to report that one of the six Wienermobiles roaming the country is in Santa Fe this week.
Driven by a pair of Hotdoggers — recent college grads Queso Dog Keila and Abbey Frankfurter (a real family name, she tells me!) — the Wienermobile will cruise into a series of lively events Thursday through Sunday. You can get a close-up look at the special design. It incorporates a wiener-shaped dashboard and ketchup-red and mustard-yellow velvet-and-pleather seats. The AV system can play 21 versions of my childhood fave jingle, “Oh, I Wish I Were an Oscar Mayer Wiener.”
Wienermobiles have been roaming the country since 1936 when the real Oscar Mayer’s nephew Carl created a 13-foot metal hot dog on wheels. An update to the design in the 1950s incorporated buns for the first time. Today’s 27-foot version is so aerodynamically sleek that it’s theoretically capable of hauling those buns at more than 90 miles an hour!
Hot Dog!
All Hotdoggers hand out Wiener Whistles everywhere they go. Fans collect these.
When Abbey and Keila get to Meow Wolf, they’ll hide glow-in-the-dark whistles in the exhibits. They’ll help Santa Fe Animal Shelter get pets adopted, and also assist in collecting all kinds of holiday foods for our Food Depot. For that, they’ll pair with the folks who sponsor Cranksgiving, a madcap food scavenger hunt on bicycles. Some 100 cycling communities across the country host this event, in which riders search for Thanksgiving dinner ingredients that go to folks in need. Collectively, the last Cranksgiving amassed 5.5 TONS of food for organizations feeding the hungry. All ages are welcome. Winners get a ride in the Wienermobile. When the Wienermobile pulls into the southside Albertson’s, the store will throw a wienie roast for the occasion.
It’s all great fun for a number of fine causes. Frankly speaking, our staff’s excited that the Wienermobile will stop by Hutton Broadcasting for a private howdy-do. It’s the Wienie-bago of our dreams!
WieNERMOBILE SCHEDULE IN SANTA FE
Thursday, November 10
4 – 6 p.m.
Santa Fe Children’s Museum
1050 Old Pecos Trail
Friday, November 11
Noon – 3 p.m.
National Pet Adoption with the Santa Fe Animal Shelter
PetSmart
3561 Zafarano Drive
Saturday, November 12
9 – 11 a.m. and 1:15 – 3 p.m.
14th Annual Cranksgiving (to participate, sign up at CranksgivingSantaFe.com)
Railyard Water Tower
11:15 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Albertson’s Market
3001 South St. Francis Drive
Sunday, November 13
10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. and 4 – 8 p.m.
Meow Wolf
1352 Rufina Circle
Story by Cheryl Alters Jamison
Four-time James Beard Foundation Book Award-winning author Cheryl Alters Jamison is the host of Heating It Up on KTRC and is now the “queen of culinary content” for SantaFe.com. Find new stories about the Santa Fe food scene each week on SantaFe.com.
