In 1897, Mr. Charlie Hasselback, of German
descent, brought a recipe to Camp County.
Today they are known as the
PITTSBURG Brand Hot Links.
Hasselback was first located in the
"Old Maddox Building" on Main Street, and he
sold the links over the counter for preparation at
home. Mr. Hasselback built an addition to his
building in 1918 and began serving cooked links
over the counter. The surroundings were not
elaborate; wooden counters and benches, the
links were served with crackers on heavy market
paper, and special hot sauce was provided in soda
water bottles. Cold drinks were offered in many
assorted flavors.
The links were 2 for .05 cents, 5 for .10 cents, and
a dozen for a quarter. You could eat them there or
carry them out, a custom that became popular
with the housewife. Word about the links traveled
fast. Pittsburg had two railroad lines and before
long the crews on the trains scheduled their
stopovers in Pittsburg and walked up the alley
behind his place of business for their noon and
early evening meals. Truckers and traveling
salesmen also soon started coming.
People from other towns liked the links so much
they tried to match the flavor of the links in
grocery stores and meat markets but were
unsuccessful.