Murray Handwerker (July 25, 1921 – May 14, 2011) was an American businessman who expanded
Nathan's Famous
Nathan's Famous, Inc. is an American company that operates a chain of fast food restaurants specializing in hot dogs. The original Nathan's restaurant stands at the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues in the Coney Island neighborhood of the Bro ...
, a fast food restaurant specializing in
hot dog
A hot dog (uncommonly spelled hotdog) is a food consisting of a grilled or steamed sausage served in the slit of a partially sliced bun. The term hot dog can refer to the sausage itself. The sausage used is a wiener ( Vienna sausage) or a f ...
s, from a family-owned
hot dog stand
A hot dog stand is a business that sells hot dogs, usually from an external counter. Hot dog stands can be located on a public thoroughfare, near a sports stadium, in a shopping mall, or at a fair. They are often found on the streets of major ...
to a nationally
franchise
Franchise may refer to:
Business and law
* Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees
* Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...
d chain. The original Nathan's Famous hot dog stand was opened in
Coney Island
Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to th ...
,
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...
, by Handwerker's father,
Nathan Handwerker
Nathan Handwerker (June 14, 1892 – March 24, 1974)Nathan Handwerker at the United States , in 1916.
Murray Handwerker was born on July 25, 1921, to
Polish-Jewish
The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Ashkenazi Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the lon ...
immigrant parents, Nathan and Ida Handwerker, in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
. He often visited and worked at his father's hot dog stand as a child. Handwerker served in the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. In 1947, he received a
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
in French from
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, ...
.
Handwerker initially took over and renovated the Roadside Rest, a roadside restaurant in
Oceanside, New York
Oceanside is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located in the southern part of the town of Hempstead, Nassau County, New York, United States. The population was 32,109 at the 2010 census.
History
Originally known as South Bay, the E ...
, during the 1950s. However, he soon returned to his family's hot dog business.
Handwerker expanded Nathan's Famous in the decades following World War II. In 1968, Murray Handwerker became the president of the Nathan's Famous chain. The company reached ten franchises, with 43 restaurants directly owned by the company, by 1977. Additionally, Handwerker wrote a cookbook, ''Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Cookbook'', which was published in 1968.This book is Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 68-12738. He sold the company to a group of investors in 1987.
Murray Handwerker died of complications from
dementia
Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...
on May 14, 2011, at his home in
Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
Palm Beach Gardens is a city in Palm Beach County in the U.S. state of Florida, 77 miles north of downtown Miami. , the population was 59,182. Palm Beach Gardens is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to an estimated 6 ...
, at age 89. He was survived by his sons, Steven, Kenneth and William. His wife, Dorothy, died in 2009.