It doesn’t happen too often, but I do occasionally meet somebody who doubts my claim to be the real Sausage King of Chicago. When this happens I usually just chuckle and say, “Would you like me to get it out?”

You see, in addition to my regular cards I carry an original business card that once belonged to my great grandfather, Einhorn Finkhof Froman. (Whaddya Finkhof that!) The card dates to 1897, Sausage fans, and depicts our family’s original Chicago Sausage Works. Einhorn was the original Sausage King, followed by my grandfather, then my father, who passed the title on to me. That’s how it works: you can’t just buy your way into a title like that, you can’t just earn it through hard work – it’s all about history and genes and blood and inbreeding.

Most folks just stare at me in awe once I’ve filled them in on these facts. “Don’t worry,” I say to them. “If you want to make it up to me, forget about humble pie, just munch my sausage!”

And, do you know what? They usually do.