Carousels

Can anyone remember the carousels that once graced the lunch counters of many department stores? I’m not talking about the ones that stood outside of the store and entertained children on wooden horses, giraffes, or lions or the merry-go-rounds in amusement parks. I am talking about the carousels that held skewered hot dogs and sausages that rotated in a continuous circle over a heat source to roast. The savory aroma would fill the stores with a warm, mouth-watering scent of the bubbling hot meats. The aroma enticed customers into making one last purchase before they left the store. Pungent and spicy smells of onions, catsup, and mustard added to its allure. It was an intimate part of making mouths water for the exotic taste of such common fare.

Brown skinned and beautiful, the hot dogs moved in a sultry circle displaying their darkly tanned skin for all to see. The vendor behind the counter would answer the customer’s call by removing one of these luscious lovelies from its perch and place it into a heated soft bun. Wrapping the entire purchase in a paper napkin, the counterperson would pass the flavor filled bundle to the hands of a waiting patron that would then hurry to the condiment containers to cover the warm frankfurter with their favorite toppings making the hot dog even more appealing to their palate. Often bags of recently purchased items circled at their feet almost forgotten, the patron would close their eyes as they relished the first bite. They chewed slowly to mix the chosen toppings into an anticipated mélange of tongue-tingling flavors.

Stores have gotten rid of the carousels, going to a grill that rolls the hot dogs up and down by way of oscillating metal fingers. The aroma was still there, but the visual excitement of those rotating, ever-circling tubes of tastiness has disappeared. The stimulation of rescuing one of those slender beauties from a speared captivity no longer exists. The need to pay the ransom to free a lowly hot dog has disappeared as well. The knight riding the aisles of the store pushing a shopping cart has been swallowed up.