Harry Stevens (1856–1934 )was born in Litchurch, Derby, England in 1856 but emigrated to Niles, Ohio in the 1880’s. He quickly became obsessed with baseball and designed the sport’s first scorecard – a design still in use to this day. By 1900, Stevens had secured contracts to supply refreshments at several Major League ballparks across the US.

On a cold Opening Day for the New York Giants in April 1901 there was no demand for ice cream. Stevens decided to sell German sausages known as ‘dachshund sausages” instead. When the staff ran out of the wax paper on which the sausages were traditionally served, Stevens had one of his employees run out and purchase some buns. He then placed the sausages in the buns. A cartoonist, recording the event, was reputed to have been unable to spell “dachshund”, so wrote “hot dogs” instead. And an American institution was born!