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Hot dog stand

Photo of a 1960s hotdog stand, Brighton
From a private collection

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  • Looking at the photo of the hotdog stand reminds me of O’Hagens hotdog shop on the seafront, just west of the Palace Pier in the 50s and 60s. You couldn’t go by the shop without buying one. There were two big trays full of long sausages and onions sizzling away. The aroma made you instantly starving. Does anyone else remember O’Hagens?

    By Mick Peirson (21/11/2006)
  • Yes remember well the onion aroma,the sizzling dog, the hulking figure of O’ Hagen. Boy he was a big fella.
    It would be so nice to be able to walk the sea front, grab a hotdog and then stop at the milk bar for a ( UK milk shake). Does any body remember the milk bar?

    By Peter Miller (06/12/2006)
  • Oooh, yes, those dogs smelt and tasted lovely! I remember the milk bar. Do you remember Jaconnellis – we spent hours in there playing the juke box?  Also a cafe in Middle Street run by an Italian couple, very popular with teenagers. They were a lovely pair, taught me to eat spaghetti with a spoon and fork.

    By Sandie Waller (27/05/2007)
  • I remember the cafe in Middle Street very well, I lived in a house right next door to it.

    By John Wignall (19/08/2007)
  • O’Hagan’s was still there (or was it back?) in the 1970’s. One Sunday night in 1976 I remember having had a shower and was just getting into bed when my pregnant wife told me she desperately wanted an O’Hagan’s. Normally she hated hot dogs, but this time I had to dress, take the car out of the underground garage and go half way around Brighton just to shut her up. Paula is now 31 years old and loves hot dogs!

    By Alan Phillips (11/11/2007)
  • I remember O’Hagans hot dogs! And their ice cream wasn’t bad either. My twin sis and I went to St Paul’s School in West Street with Vanda Jacconelli. Her claim to fame was Paul Mcartney waving to her as the Beatles came out of the Hippodrome!

    By Belinda Lumsden (07/04/2009)
  • Yes, I remember O’Hagan’s on the seafront, almost on the corner of Middle Street. It usually had a queue when the Odeon cinema and the pubs turned out at around 11pm, but the delicious hot dogs were well worth the wait. Toni Jacconelli’s was on the corner of the seafront and Ship Street in the late 1950s early 1960s. The milkshakes were superb and the jukebox had all the latest records - 2 plays for 6d or 5 plays for 1 shilling (that’s 3p and 5p in decimal!) Great days.

    By Robert Taylor (03/08/2009)
  • Always used to rock up on our Lambrettas after a night out at the Top Rank Suite near the bottom of West Street. Lots & lots of lovely greasy onions Yum.

    By Peter Wood (26/11/2009)
  • I remember O’Hagens, it was right next to the Fortune of War pub which my mum and dad worked in before running the ‘Skylark’ which was a bit further along (about another 4 doors down). I also remember Jimmy O’Hagen (and he was a big fella) he was lovely. My sister and I were left to our own devices for most of the time, and he would often give us free fish and chips. Brighton was more like a village then where all the locals knew each other. One time my sister went missing and half of the town were out looking for her but luckily she was found.

    By Lesley Anderson (05/04/2010)
  • I used to cruise around Brighton on my scooter as a mod and would often go to O’Hagans because a friend who was a rocker worked there so I was guaranteed a “special” hot dog quite often at a “special” price. His name was David Franklin and I believe he became the infamous Lord Franklin selling properties he didn’t own. Sadly he died at a very young age. I think the family was beset by tragedy and believe some of his siblings suffered similarly. They were great times though but not without a few scrapes. After O’Hagans I would probably have gone to Castle Square to meet the rest of the Mods. We used to gather there in the late evening with our scooters but as we passed our car tests it became a meeting place for cars.

    By Wayne Doidge (31/03/2011)
  • Just found this site, it brings back great memories. O’Hagan’s was great, remember leaving the Regent Dance Hall and, having missed the last bus and train back to Portslade, walking down to get a hot dog to eat on the long trek home to Portslade. Don’t think I could do it now.

    By Colin Harvey (30/06/2011)
  • O’Hagan’s wasn’t next door to the Fortune of War, as one writer said, O’Hagan’s was along the road from the Old Ship Hotel and very close to the milk bar / ice cream shop. O’Hagan always had a large amount of Brighton rock on show, which he would sometimes give us lads a small piece of if we behaved. The Fortune of War is on the lower road on the beach side along with the Belverdere and the Skylark. Very handy for picking up a ‘lady of the night’, or so I’ve been told!

    By Duffy Watkins (10/07/2011)
  • I can recall buying hot dogs in O’Hagan’s in the 70s. My 1974 Kellys Directory of Brighton & Hove shows J O’Hagan, cafe, at 49 Kings Road, just one door away from the corner of Middle Street (eastern side). This is the one I remember. A fancy goods shop called Grotto was on the corner. Interestingly, it also shows that J O’Hagan had a shell fish bar at 125 Kings Road Arches (lower promenade near the steps below the Grand Hotel), and a cafe (another hot dog shop perhaps?) at No.126 next door. There was also an O’Hagan’s shell fish bar at No.155, just next to the West Street steps. The Belvedere was nearby at Nos. 159/160.

    By Alan Hobden (10/07/2011)
  • Hi Wayne was David Franklin in our class at Varndean?

    By Jim Haughton (20/03/2013)
  • Mr O’Hagan had two shops, one on the corner of Middle Street, and one down on the beach next tom the Fortune of War. I worked there one summer when I was just 13, 7 days a week and from 9am in the until 9pm in the evening, and was paid just £10. But I used to get tips etc. I worked there all summer holidays and bought myself a Ben Sherman shirt, Levi jeans, loafer shoes, Corbie coat, and a two tone suit from Carnarby Styles in London Rd, opposite St Peters Church. All my friends from school were out having fun, and I was working 70 hours a week, but I really enjoyed it and was paid what I thought at the time was a good pay. I also could eat what I wanted. The oysters were my favourite, just £1 for a dozen. Mr O’Hagan and his wife treated me like their own son. My bother got me the job, and he worked a further along the beach. I loved my time there.

    By Jozef Kis (08/01/2015)
  • Hi Jozef, you will no doubt remember Mary, the O’Hagans’ daughter, who was a teenager in the 1960s. She had to help quite a lot at the shops, even before leaving school. She was one of my best friends at the Blessed Sacrament Convent, and later too. I recall going to both shops and must have had a hot dog or two, but what I remember most is being invited to the house above the Kings Road one for tea, and being amazed at the massive amount of food her mum laid on. No wonder her dad was a “big fella”!

    In the 1980s Mary dedicated her life to caring for her parents, especially her dad, who sadly developed Alzheimer’s disease. They then lived at Glendor Road, Hove. Tragically Mary was killed in a road accident in 1992, aged only 42.

    By Sylvia Schwarz, née Carroll (10/01/2015)
  • O’Hagans hot dogs, probably the best hot dogs in the world, certainly if you were a kid and your world was Brighton.

    By Patrick (17/08/2016)
  • Sylvia Schwarz: Sadly, I don’t remember Mary. I worked for one season at the cafe next to the Fortune of War – the year would have been 1971 or ’72. I wonder who that person in the photo is? I do remember being scared out of my life when the Red Arrows flew quite low over the top of the cafe! 

    By Jozef Kis (26/06/2018)
  • Yeah O,Hagan’s brilliant hot dogs always with some cool bikes parked outside. I used to walk from Hove with my girlfriend who became my wife. I worked at Moores of Brighton, apprenticed to train on Rolls Royce, Bentley and Jaguars – some of the best days of my life. Anyone got a time machine? If so I’m there.

    By Alan Petrie August 2019 (24/08/2019)
  • In 1966 when we were 14 my boyfriend ( now Hubbie ) and I worked at O’Hagens.My boyfriend used to take the head off the fish which dropped into a big bin..I was a waitress and after Mr O’Hagen cooked the fish I served it..I remember the fish being fresh.Mr O’Hagen called me “girl” and my boyfriend “ boy” he didn’t call us by any other name.We worked all day Saturday & Sunday and got 32 shillings each which is approx £1:52 for the two days work..We used to go straight to the pictures..The Duke of York..buy a packet of No6 cigarettes and smoke in the back seat of the cinema..which had double seats and a built in ashtray..Those were the days.

    By Linda & Mick (02/04/2020)
  • I lived in Brighton from 98-2001 and O’Hagan’s were still there. The lady who worked in there was from Wigan,like me.She used to take a lot of abuse from drunk young people. She was lovely and the fries were top notch.

    By MALCOLM FAIRBAIRN (17/12/2020)

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