Ed Waldmire invented the Cozy Dog, a deep fried hot dog on a stick, while stationed in Amarillo, Texas, during World War II. Originally called “crusty cur,” the battered hot dogs were popular with GIs at the airfield. After returning home from the war, Ed opened his first Cozy Dog stand on June 16, 1946, at the Lake Springfield Beach House, using a special batter recipe created by his college friend Don Strand that would stick to a deep fried hot dog, and a Cozy Dog sold for 15 cents. In the summer of 1946, Ed opened three Cozy Dog stands at the Illinois State Fair and promoted them as “the GI Hot Dog.” In 1950, the Cozy Dog Drive In opened on Route 66, and Ed’s wife Ginny provided the name “Cozy Dog” and drew the logo of two hot dogs embracing. Ed’s son Buz Waldmire and his wife Sue later built the current Drive In, which opened in 1996, and three generations of the Waldmire family have served their famous dogs there ever since.
