Instead of a bun with a hole in it, how 'bout...

A Krispy Creme doughnut encircling the circle of dog.

No dippin' sauce required here.

Ooooorrrr, do the circle thing, dip it batter, and have a corn dog ring. Eat it, or play a game of ring toss with it. You win, either way.

I remember those. Or more strictly, I remember hearing about them on the radio at the time. The point was that you could eat them on a hamburger bun.

I like the krispy creme covering the cirlce dog, but I'd add the injection of liquid cheddar and dip it in chocolate. Oh and sprinkles.

When I first saw the description of "hotdog with a hole in the middle" I was reminded of the old "Frank-N-Stuffs" hotdogs that came pre-stuffed with either chili or cheese. I always used to suck the chili out first, or try to as much as possible, so that I'd end up with a see-through hotdog. Anyone else remember those?

The one thing I hated about them was even after you got the chili out, if you used them in anything else (sliced up and mixed with macaroni and cheese), they still retained that chili taste to them.

A Google search shows that the top reference for the Ding Dog hot dog is...buzz.mn. The next reference is at Dan Ryan's Chicago Grill under their White Sox Party Package...as a dessert item.

And where is this all-American eatery? You'd never guess this unless you've been there.

I guess if we wish to seek the resting places of our mid-twentieth century culture, we only have to take an airplane ride.

Jacob

I'm not sure about hot dogs, but an Illinois minor league baseball team has already come up with the hamburger on a Krispy Kreme bun.

...that looks like it would be perfect on a croissant or a bagel. With cream cheese even.

...in Hong Kong. That's a hoot.

Just for those of you not from Chicago: Dan Ryan (technically, Dan Ryan, Jr.; 1894-1961) was a Chicago politician, and was president of the Cook County Board from 1954 until his death. In the finest Chicago tradition, Dan Jr. gained his seat on the board in 1923, from his father, when Dan Sr. died.

The Dan Ryan Expressway (I90-94 eastbound, which is actually going south out of downtown Chicago), one of the most chronically-congested freeways in the area, was named after him.

Sorry to be arriving at this a bit late, but: Is it just my arrested-development-coated, Freud-dipped, deep-fried little mind, or is the Ding-Dog--and especially the discussion thread that follows--the diametric opposite of "savory"? I must admit to feeling a touch of id-induced vertigo as I read about all those injected viscous fluids--which one person mentioned sucking out--topped with cream cheese, yet. Then again, I suppose that sometimes a ring-shaped hot dog is just a ring-shaped hot dog. At least it wasn't eaten by inserting the bun (unsplit? oh gosh I hope so) into the hole. (Sorry.) Bon appetit!

Guess I'm showing my non-MN status; I thought a Ding-Dog would have chocolate and cream filling (maybe mustard-flavored, given the situation).

... How about just getting back the Chocodile?

I would strangle a hobo with my bare hands for a Chocodile.

The Dan Ryan is also under construction (oh Lord when will it end), in some places reducing 6 lanes to 3. What fun!

Can I have some ding dongs with that?