Dubuque Plumpers

Next to the Dubuque Royal Buffet Canned Ham, nothing says Dubuque Packing Co. more than the Plumpers Beef Frank hot dog. Many a Tri-State resident spent a career working for the Dubuque “Pack” in the form of the Dubuque Packing Co., FDL Foods Inc., or Hormel Food Corp. and remembers making the Pack’s version of their ballpark frank – the Dubuque Plumpers Beef Frank hot dog.

The Dubuque Pack produced the larger-than-average hot dog and placed the Plumpers into MLB ballparks around the country. They developed special Plumpers’ packaging and advertising campaigns to sell Plumpers in local markets as a team’s official hot dog. Dubuque Plumpers Beef Franks were served at the Atlanta Braves, California Angels, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Royals (and the NFL Chiefs), Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, and San Francisco Giants ball parks in the 1970s, ‘80s, and/or ‘90s.

There were a variety of ways Dubuque Plumpers were promoted to baseball fans. Game-day program advertising was a common way to get the message across that you could buy your favorite ballpark hot dog at your local grocery store, too. To aid in this effort, the Dubuque Pack created special packaging so in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area you could purchase Twins Plumpers by Dubuque. In Kansas City it was Royals Plumpers by Dubuque.

Folded pocket schedules for a team’s season with the Plumpers name and the Dubuque logo prominently displayed. These would be placed at points of sale in the ballpark and wherever Plumpers were sold in a specific team’s metro area. Complimentary team photo albums for fans that included color images of the team players with a short bio and stats.

In 1983, Chicago hosted the 50th Anniversary of the MLB All-Star Game at Comiskey Park. The Dubuque Pack sponsored the vinyl rain jackets made available that evening in the event of rain. On the back of the jacket just below the neckline was the Dubuque Pack logo atop the White Sox and Plumpers logo. Plumpers rain jackets were available at multiple parks, including Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

The Dubuque Pack and the Atlanta Braves produced team baseball cards under the Dubuque logo for the 1989, ’90, and ’91 seasons. Cards included future Hall of Famers Tom Glavine and John Smoltz, slugger Dale Murphy, two-sport star Deion Sanders, and HOF manager Bobby Cox. These baseball cards could only be obtained on gameday at Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta.

Meat packing and the production of the Dubuque Plumpers ended in Dubuque in 2001. Hormel Food Corp., owner of the Plumpers brand, stopped manufacturing the beef frank in January 2015.

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Baseball Cards

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Miscellaneous Artifacts

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