“Der Wienerschnitzel, Wienerschnitzel, dis must be da place
just drive right in and put a great big hot dog in your face”.

Does anyone else remember this ditty? I continue to enjoy both the “It’s Fry Day” email and the newsletter -- Ed Schoenberg ’70

Ed Schoenberg is absolutely right about the Der Weinerschnitzel radio ad. The performer had a phony German accent - and the ad was one of those really annoying ones that gets stuck in your head whenever you hear it. No wonder Ed can't forget it! Mary Ellen Whelan Cain '71

Yep...but it was:  “Der Wienerschnitzel, Wienerschnitzel, dis muss be da place -- just drive right in and put a great big hot dog in your face” -- Jeannine Berger Passenheim ’60

Ed Schoenberg is correct. That is how the commercial jingle lyrics went. And I should know, because about 80% of my grey matter seems to be taken up with old jingles and '60s TV theme songs! There seems to be no room left for current information that would be much more useful. (N-E-S-T-L-E-S. Nestles makes the very best. Cho-o-oc'late. Whack! [Whack is sound of wooden dog's mouth slamming shut.] -- Susan Wilkerson McCasland ’71

Ed Schoenberg had it perfect, he is not nuts. As soon as I saw the ad I too started singing the Wienerschnitzel jingle!  I always replaced "put" with "shove" a great big hotdog in your face -- Sharon Sceper Cramer '68

Ed's right about the Wiernerschnitzel ad.  I can still even remember the melody of the song! -- John Hermes ’70

I thought it was: “Wienerschnitzel, Wienerschnitzel, its your kind of place -- just drive right in and put a great big hot dog in your face”.  Or maybe “Wienerschnitzel, Wienerschnitzel, its your kind of place -- just drive right in and plop a great big hot dog in your face” -- Michael A. Robbins ’70

Ed is right about the Der Weinerschnitzel ad!! I can sing it perfectly after all these years too! --Sara Leddick ’71
 
Ed Schoenberg is right.  I remember that radio jingle myself.  I remembered it clearly just the way it is here (except I remember "yer face" not your face) before I was finished with the first Der.  I miss Der Wienerschnitzel; I haven't seen one since I moved away the day after graduating to go visit the wonderful land of Viet Nam -- Bill Hollister '71

Ed Schoenberg isn't nuts. That Wienerschnitzel ad campaign not only existed, it was a brainchild of two of my big influences. Gene Moss and Jim Thurman were a big deal in the mid-to-late 1960s and things got even bigger for them. They wrote ALL of the Roger Ramjet animated cartoons and had two different live TV shows on LA's KHJ; Shrimpenstein (a daily subversive kids' program starring a cute little Frankenstein puppet and Moss as its creator, a mad scientist) and a late-nightly talk/improv show. Moss and Thurman also had their own ad agency, hence, those wacky Wienerschnitzel ads! Later, Moss became the primary voiceover announcer for ABC and Thuman created segments for SESAME STREET and other Children's Television Workshop series. They're both gone now, but they produced a ton of memorable work, mostly hilarious -- Scott Shaw ’68

I too have the Wienerschnitzel jingle permanently implanted in my long-term memory. To the dismay of my husband, I almost can’t help breaking into song whenever I drive past one. I remember they changed the name to Wienerschnitzel from Der Wienerschnitzel because it was incorrect German. It should have been Das Wienerschnitzel. Because of that, my dad (who had served in WWII in France and Germany) explained to me that German nouns can be “masculine,” “feminine,” or “neuter” in gender. Perhaps that little bit of knowledge at an impressionable age was part of what attracted me to learning world languages! I majored in French literature at San Diego State, spent my junior year in the south of France, became a bilingual teacher certified in Spanish and now work for the San Diego County Office of Education in English learner services and world languages, including Mandarin! So, danke to the Der [sic] Wienerschnitzel ditty! Sally Rice Fox ’74 (I am a former member of the Class of 1974 who moved away in 1971…but came back to San Diego as soon as I could!)

I lived about 1000 feet  from Der Weener Dog.   It opened in 1961 and hot dogs were 5 cents -- John Jones ‘69

I can still sing it, too! (and my brother, Darrell '69, worked there for awhile -- one of his first jobs).  BUT . . . by the time the class of '72 rolled around " . . . put a great big hot dog in your face" had a totally different meaning, so we thought it was even funnier than you guys did! -- Patty Bremner Brubaker  '72

(Really!!?? What meaning did it have for you? -- JF)

Ah, "der weiner snitzel, dis must be the place to put a great big hotdog in your face".  In '59 it was Jack-in-the-Box. 20 tacos for a dollar. When my honey Diane Peterson and I went to the drive-in, it was either that or a pizza. She could eat a whole pizza -- or twenty tacos. Bless her soul. Of course I was a bit thinner then.  We would take whatever we had to the drive-in and  once in a while watch the movie. Oh yeah, we used to "cruise" El Cajon Blvd for about $1 for the whole night.  Bitchin' huh? We were cruisin' for chicks. We actually picked up some "chicks" one time and had no idea what to do -- Rick Combs '59