It made international headlines in August when hot dog vendor Pasang Sherpa was evicted from his corner near New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art. Sherpa had fallen behind on his rent to the city Park's Department -- $53,558 per month.
Doug Nielson, of Epworth, Iowa, has no such worries at D&D Footlongs. He and his wife, Debra, pulled their hot dog wagon into Dubuque's Washington Square in 1987, and he has been a fixture at the corner of Seventh and Locust streets since.
"It's relaxing," Nielson said. "One of my wife's friends said it would never fly in Dubuque, but I've seen a lot of people come and go from that building across the street."
Nielson nodded toward the Roshek Building, where IBM is in the process of bringing more than 1,000 workers and potential hot dog fans downtown.
"I hope this one stays a little longer than the rest," Nielson said. "It's tough out here right now. IBM is training a lot of people and bringing in caterers during lunch. Philly CheeseSteak started coming down this year, and then
| Doug Nielson Occupation: Extrusion blow molder at Berry Plastics in Peosta, Iowa, and owner/operator of D&D Footlongs. Home: Epworth, Iowa. Age: 50 Family: Wife, Debra; 3 grown children. Hobby: Scoutmaster of Troop 70 in Epworth since 1990. Quote: "If it's raining a little, I'll stay open, but if it's a downpour I'm out of here. Nobody's going to eat outside. Then, a couple customers always come by and say, 'Hey, where were ya*' " Americans love their hot dogs * On Independence Day, Americans will eat 150 million hot dogs, enough to stretch from Washington, D.C., to Los Angeles five times. * During Hot Dog Season -- Memorial Day to Labor Day -- Americans typically consume 7 billion hot dogs, about 818 hot dogs per second. * New York consumes more hot dogs than any other city, beating out Chicago and Los Angeles. * Chicago's O'Hare International Airport travelers consumes six times more hot dogs than Los Angeles International Airport and LaGuardia Airport combined, about 750,000 more per year. Source -- National Hot Dog & Sausage Council |
But Nielson isn't complaining. He never intended to get rich selling hot dogs between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. He moved to Iowa from New Jersey in the mid-1980s when an East Coast plastics manufacturer opened a plant in Peosta. Working 12-hour night shifts left Nielson with time for some "sunlighting" to supplement his income.
"When you work a 12-hour shift and get off in the morning and it's sunny and warm, what are you going to do, go to bed?" Nielson asks.
He relished the idea of owning a hot dog wagon based on memories of street-corner vendors in New Jersey and New York City.
"There's one on nearly every corner, and when I go back there I'm stopping about every two blocks and grabbing one," Nielson said. "I have everything they have except for the cooked onions they serve."
He and his wife used to staff the wagon five days per week, but he now works the stand by himself and works around his schedule at Berry Plastics, which means the wagon is open two days one week and three the next.
"I enjoy sitting out here and people watching," Nielson said. "If I could do this all year 'round, I'd quit my other job, but I don't think I could support my family. It's just for extra spending money."
He offers hot dogs, footlongs, Polish sausages and natural casing hot dogs, with mustard, ketchup, relish, onion, sauerkraut, chili and cheese for condiments. He offers daily specials and is available for private events.
"Some days are busy and some days are slower," Nielson said. "But I figure everybody isn't going to eat a hot dog every day."
And besides, there's no pressure to meet a $53,000 rent payment on his little corner of the hot dog world.
Neighbors is an occasional feature of the Telegraph Herald. If you know someone who would be a good candidate for a Neighbors story, e-mail kbrown@wcinet.com.
