Obscure Local History #9: William Marvy Eats 14 Coneys in 1926

[The Marvy Company c. 1984.]

William Marvy is one of the greatest inventors in St. Paul history, and his barber supply factory still sits on St. Clair Avenue churning out rotating barber poles. But it's a little known fact that he also liked coney dogs.

(Crossover alert!)

Here's an excerpt from the delightful book, The William Marvy Company of St Paul, all about the history of Marvy and his incredibly rotating barber pole, describing Marvy as a young teen with a head full of ideas:

Bill had one foot in the adult world of sales but was still a sixteen-year-old kid. On February 2, 1926, he 'bet Mr. Deutsch I could eat 14 Coney Islands in less than 40 minutes. I won the bet by eating 14 in 22 minutes.'

That long ago, he probably got them from the Original Coney Island on St. Peter Street!