--- description: This is how many hot dogs have been eaten by the winners of the annual Fourth of July contest title: This Chart Shows How Many Hot Dogs It Takes to Win the Nathan’s Eating Contest image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt92bf22c8bee84446/69885572e53aba23904de45a/nathans.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Food & Drink](/tag/food-drink/) ## Food & Drink Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # This Graphic Shows How Many Hot Dogs It Takes to Win the Nathan's Eating Contest by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/) and [Heather Jones](/author/heather-jones/) Jul 2, 2015 3:25 PM CUT  Crowds outside Nathan's Famous hot dog stand on Coney Island, New York City, circa 1955 Crowds outside Nathan's Famous hot dog stand on Coney Island, New York City, circa 1955George Heyer—Getty Images by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/) and [Heather Jones](/author/heather-jones/) Jul 2, 2015 3:25 PM CUT According to Nathan’s Famous [lore](http://www.nathansfamous.com/contest/mainevent "undefined"), the first Fourth of July hot-dog-eating contest took place the very year the hot dog stand on New York’s Coney Island opened in 1916\. The [story](http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/media/nathans-famous-hot-dog-eating-contest/?ar%5Fa=1 "undefined") goes that it began when four immigrants were trying to determine who was the most patriotic by scarfing the dogs. But there’s no proof that there was an organized contest until the 1970s– as the press agent Mortimer Matz [told the New York _Times_ ](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/19/nyregion/19experience.html?%5Fr=0 "undefined")and Nathan’s then acknowledged. So our tally of how many hot dogs it took to win the contest begins in 1972, when Nathan’s started keeping [records](http://www.nathansfamous.com/contest/hall%5Fof%5Ffame "undefined"). That year’s winner, Jason Schechter, ate 14 wieners—a number that’s puny by today’s standards. Current record-holder Joey Chestnut won his title by noshing a whopping 69 in 2013. For your awe-filled—or vomit-tinged—enjoyment, scroll down to see how many frankfurters have been consumed by the winners of every Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest between 1972 and 2014\. As for why the thing is at Nathan’s at all, here’s how TIME [explained](http://time.com/vault/issue/1960-08-29/page/63/ "undefined") the importance of Nathan Handwerker’s beachside joint in 1960: --- > “” ---  ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3927020/nathans-hot-dog-eating-contest-july-fourth/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3927020/nathans-hot-dog-eating-contest-july-fourth/"},"headline":"This Graphic Shows How Many Hot Dogs It Takes to Win the Nathan's Eating Contest","datePublished":"2015-07-02T15:25:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:47:23.183Z","description":"They scarf down a lot more than they used to","url":"https://time.com/3927020/nathans-hot-dog-eating-contest-july-fourth/","keywords":["Food & Drink","Newsfeed"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt92bf22c8bee84446/69885572e53aba23904de45a/nathans.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Heather Jones","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/heather-jones/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt92bf22c8bee84446/69885572e53aba23904de45a/nathans.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Nathan's Hotdogs","caption":"Nathan's Hotdogs","creditText":"George Heyer—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/food-drink/","name":"Food & Drink"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3927020/nathans-hot-dog-eating-contest-july-fourth/","name":"This Graphic Shows How Many Hot Dogs It Takes to Win the Nathan's Eating Contest"}}]}] ```