Famous Nathan

I've never been to Coney Island, but I've heard of Nathan's Famous, the hot dog stand that's been there for a century now. It was a great story about how a poor, illiterate Jewish immigrant from Poland came to America and within a few days had a job at a luncheonette counter dishing up frankfurters. After a few years of scrimping and saving, Nathan Handwerker was able to buy a little space on Coney Island to sell his frankfurters. He and his wife, Ida, put in long hours and worked seven days a week to help Nathan's succeed, and succeed it did. Nathan was a stickler for detail, nothing escaped his exacting eye. I loved how he was able to pick up a bag of onion peels and tell by the weight if the person peeling them had taken off too much onion. It was a wonderful story that I wished had a happier ending: Nathan hoped his two sons, Murray and Sol, would be able to work together in the store but unfortunately personality clashes led to a falling out and Sol and Murray parted ways. Changing times led to Nathan's going public and the Nathan's of today only vaguely resembles the Nathan of yesteryear.