Finding Nathan Handwerker

The Nathan's Famous of today was envisioned almost in its entirety by its founder, Nathan Handwerker.

Nathan is the one on the left looking all capitalist and stuff.

Nathan passed away on March 24, 1974, at the age of 82.  He lived long enough to see his company go public in 1970.  He is buried in Mt. Lebanon Cemetery in Glendale, Queens, just south of Myrtle Avenue, a short walk from the sanctuary..

His wife, Ida, who developed the recipe for Nathan's franks as a 19 year-old newlywed, died in 1976 at the age of 79.  She lays next to him.  Nearby is their daughter-in-law, Dorothy, who passed away in 2009.  Along with her husband, she helped create the most famous Nathan's location off of the boardwalk, Nathan's Roadside Rest in Oceanside,  Long Island.

Murray Handwerker, immortalized as a toddler in a picture of the original Coney Island Nathan's, is almost 90 and still living.  Aside from authoring a hot dog cookbook, he has served as a trustee of Ithaca College and a patron of the arts.  He has six children and, as of 2009, five grandchildren.