Harry M. Stevens

Not to be confused with Harry Steevens.

Harry Mozley Stevens^[b] (June 14, 1855 – May 3, 1934) was a food concessionaire from England credited with being America's foremost ballpark concessionaire.^[3] He is also attributed by various sources as being the inventor of the hot dog.^[4][5][3]

Harry M. Stevens
Born	(1855-06-14)June 14, 1855 Derby, England, U.K.[a]
Died	May 3, 1934(1934-05-03) (aged 78) Manhattan, New York, U.S.
Resting place	Union Cemetery, Niles, Ohio, U.S.[2]
Occupation	Food concessionaire
Known for	Ballpark food, creation of baseball scorecard, purported inventor of the hot dog
Children	5

Biography

Stevens was born in Derby, England, in 1855 and had connections to Litchurch there. He emigrated to Niles, Ohio, in the United States in 1882.^[2] He was first employed as an ironworker, then as a traveling book salesman.^[2]

In the late 1880s, Stevens traveled to Columbus, Ohio, and attended a baseball game.^[2] He found the scorecard he was sold to be deficient, and quickly made his mark by designing and selling a version with a illustration on the cover, player names and positions listed inside, and an advertisement on the back, a design still in use.^[2] He sold his scorecards to fans using the phrase "You can't tell the players without a scorecard."^[3] Over time, he expanded to Toledo, Milwaukee, and Pittsburgh,^[2] and also founded Harry M. Stevens Inc., a stadium concessions company. In the mid-1890s, he expanded to New York City after meeting with John Montgomery Ward, then-manager of the New York Giants.^[2] By 1900, Stevens had secured contracts to supply refreshments at several major-league ballparks across the country.

Stevens claimed that at a Giants' home game on a cold April day in 1901,^[c] there was limited demand for ice cream so he decided to sell German "dachshund sausages", having his staff place them in bread rolls and sell them as "red hots".^[3] Newspaper cartoonist Tad Dorgan,^[6] reportedly recounting the event, was said to have been unable to spell dachshund, so wrote "hot dogs" instead.^[3] This account has been disputed by researchers, who point out the earliest known hot-dog cartoon by Dorgan dates to 1906,^[7] and "the term 'hot dog' was used for sausages in buns as early as 1895 in college newspapers."^[8]

Stevens died in May 1934 in Manhattan following two bouts of pneumonia;^[d] he was survived by his wife and five children.^[9]

Harry M. Stevens Inc. was acquired by Aramark on December 12, 1994.^[10]

Memorials

Stevens Park in Niles, Ohio, which opened in 1936, was named in his honor after his family donated its 35 acres (14 ha) to the city.^[11] In 2013, the community began an annual "Harry Stevens Hot Dog Day".^[2] The event includes entertainment, a dachshund race, and a hot dog eating contest.^[2]

In early 2013, Derby City Council and Derby Civic Society jointly announced they would erect a blue plaque (historical marker) to his memory on his first marital home at 21 Russell Street in Derby, England.^[12][13]

Notes

1. Some sources note alternate birth dates and locations, such as July 14, 1855, in London.^[1]
2. Stevens' middle name appears as both Mozley and Mosley in different sources.
3. Some versions of the story cite alternate years.
4. Some sources cited arteriosclerosis as his cause of death.^[6]

Sources

• Rippon, Nicola, Derbyshire's Own, The History Press, 2006, ISBN 0750942592.