American Classics

Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet!
 
True American classics find their roots deeply grounded in the lives of immigrants that migrated to the New World in seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Early folk games in England display characteristics that can be seen in modern baseball. The hotdog has German origins stemming from the word frankfurter associated with Frankfurt, Germany. Apple pie can be traced back to the English and Dutch.

Throughout the verses below are links to guide you toward embracing the past, empowering the present and enriching the future. The formats vary from videos to definitions to historical facts. As you preview each outlying page, test your trivia knowledge base and add to your repertoire.

Now, let's get started on a journey to learn about the establishment of true American Classics. Don't forget to follow the links provided and click the pictures for groovy additional information! Be sure to watch the video in Full Screen view and go to bed tonight with baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet singing you to sleep (or keeping you awake)!

That's America, folks!

VIDEO

Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet

American Classics

The stuff that's all-American
On any given day—
Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie
 And of course Chevrolet

On this you surely agree
One can't understandably deny
Know how it all got started?
Ever taken time to research why?

Stool-ball, trap-ball and baseball
All have a place in history books
From the 1700s onward
Balls were rarely altered in their looks

Colonial children loved trap-ball games
Excitement abounded without a doubt
A quick flip of the trap, a swift swing
Left hopes no one caught the ball for an out

Folk games, leisure times of the past
Led to baseball as we know it today
The claim of ‘Father of Baseball’
Names Alexander Cartwright its mainstay

Hotdogs started as a sausage in a roll
With Coney Island’s claim to fame
Concessions and easy access from vendors
Made this ‘dog’ vital to the game

Many questions remain unanswered
About the launching of this ‘hot dog’ treat
Some say it was based on a cartoon
Others rumor origins from dog meat

Binding attachments found in life
Mac ’n’ cheese, campfires, picnics, Fourth of July
Boast connections to the hotdog
None as tantalizing as fresh apple pie

Life, hot dogs and baseball
Hot apple pie topped with ice cream
Ah-h-h-h! Those American classics
Sad day had their visions not been seen!

 ©2012 Awakenings
Sharla Lee Shults