The Sausage King of Chicago

Abe Froman’s personal blog.
The true story on how a humble sausage magnate got tangled up in the well-loved Hollywood movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
Find out about the man behind the legend.

French painting

Haven’t had a dream in a long time. See, the life I’ve had, can make a good man bad

So for once in my life, let me get what I want.
Lord knows, it would be the first time.

These are the words I muttered to myself, while on a Sausage sourcing trip to Manchester, England, way back in early 1963. I’d just visited yet another English sausage factory, having spent the afternoon tasking mediocre sausage, and was feeling kind of low.

I was starting to wonder if the pork business really was for me. I was plagued by dark thoughts. And as I wandered down a humble road named Harper Street, I found myself repeating these words:

Haven’t had a dream in a long time. See, the life I’ve had, can make a good man bad.
So for once in my life, let me get what I want.
Lord knows, it would be the first time.

It was kind of like a prayer, and I had my eyes closed. When I open them I see this little kid watching me, while sitting on a tricycle. He must have only been about four years old, but he had some head of hair, with a huge quiff. In his grubby little hand he was grasping a limp daffodil.

The kid watches me for a bit, then pedals off on his trike. That peculiar moment has haunted me ever since.

Imagine my surprise, many years later, when I hear my words sung on the radio by the English pop band, The Smiths, in 1985, while I was on another sausage sourcing trip to Manchester.
Imagine my further surprise when I hear an instrumental version of this same song in John Hughes’ 1986 movie, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off!


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