Nathan Handwerker was born on June 14, 1892. He traveled to Belgium from Poland at the age of eighteen and two years later he stepped foot on American soil. He washed dishes and later worked the counter at Max's Busy Bee in Manhattan. He started to work weekends at Feltman's; splitting rolls and making deleiveries for the famous restaruant. Although Feltman invented the hot dog, Handwerker brought it to the masses. Even today you can still see deep lines at the windows to Nathan's on a sunny summer day. Let's go back and see how this hot dog Mecca began.

The hot dog was invented by Charles Feltman in 1874. Although his fabulous restaurant (where Astroland Park currently sits) is gone the hot dog lives on at Nathan's on the corner of Stillwell and Surf Avenues. It is here that a resourceful immigrant bested Feltman's (the island's most successful restaurant). Between the first and second decades of the Twentieth Century Feltman's grew from serving 900,000 to 2,000,000 customers. One famous postcard depicted a clam, lobster, fish, an ear of corn, a hot dog, a crab and a mug of beer all walking to "Feltman's famous restaurant." One additional person who walked in was Nathan Handwerker (German for hand worker, or "day laborer"), a Manhattan restaurant manager. He responded to the HELP WANTED ad in the window and within a year (thanks in part to his ability to eat hot dogs for free while on the job) Handwerker had saved over $300 that he invested into the rental of a building at the corners of Stillwell and Surf Avenue.

Coney Island historian Edo McCullough said Nathan installed signs that "shrieked like fire-engine sirens." He sold the hot dogs at five cents a-piece, used a twelve-foot grill and put a hint of garlic in his sausages. Unlike today, many of the passers-by were weary of anyplace that would sell its food at half the price found at Feltman's, it certainly wasn't the Coney tradition. So, many passed by Nathan's stand for the restaurant further down Surf Avenue. Using the island's spirit for inspiration Handwerker hired bums to stand around the counter and paid them in hot dogs in order to give the impression he was busy. The crowds, seeing only unkempt patrons, still stayed away. Nathan then took the concept to the next level, had the bums shave themselves and wear doctor's outfits so they looked well-off. McCullough said that a new sign above the establishment proclaimed, "If doctors eat our hot dogs, you know they're good!"

source part #1: history.amusement-parks.com/nathans.htm