I’m Jake Newman. The Portland Logbook is my love letter to this city: the food worth hunting down, the history that refuses to die, the corners you only find if you’re paying attention.

The Red Snapper

I have been an all-beef hot dog person for as long as I can remember, so red snappers were never really on my radar.

I knew they existed. Obviously. They are hard to miss. They sit in the grocery store looking almost plastic, like something from a children’s cartoon or an old Maine postcard where the colors are way too saturated. But I never really thought they were for me.

The first one I vividly remember eating was not even that long ago. I was starving after a concert, and a bunch of us ended up squeezed into a booth at Room for Improvement. I ordered one after being peer pressured by my friends.

The color barely registered because the whole room already glowed red, but what I remember was the snap. The casing broke first. Then came the salt, the smoke, the richness, and that weird little moment where the hot dog almost fought back. I had never had a hot dog like that before. Honestly, I had never had anything like that before.

Then this weekend, I threw a few on the grill for the Fourth of July. Outside in the sunlight, they looked almost neon. Bright red, completely ridiculous. It made me wonder why Maine’s most famous hot dog looks like that in the first place.

The funny thing is, the color isn't actually the most important part. The snap is.

That snap comes from the natural casing, which most hot dogs no longer use. It is the old way of making them, before everything got soft and uniform. W.A. Bean & Sons in Bangor has been around since 1860. They started making hot dogs in the early 1900s, and today they are the last producer of natural casing frankfurts in Maine.

The red itself is a little harder to pin down. The version I like most says Maine butchers started dying their hot dogs different shades of red so people could tell one shop’s from another. Another explanation is a little simpler: old sausage makers used bright coloring to make their product pop in the case. Either way, the red was never about flavor. It was all branding.

That should probably make it less charming, but I think it does the opposite. A lot of the best traditions start this way, as something practical, commercial, or completely random. Then, when enough people grow up with it, the thing no one planned suddenly becomes folklore.

A bright red hot dog is absurd until your grandparents ate them, and your parents ate them, and you ate them at camp. Then one day they’re sitting in a split-top bun next to baked beans on a Saturday night, and it isn’t just dye anymore. It’s part of the ritual.

And then there is the bun. A red snapper belongs in a New England-style roll: flat-sided, split on top, buttered and grilled until the sides go golden. Same kind of bun you want wrapped around a Maine lobster roll, soft in the middle, crisp on the edges, and built for butter.

Red dog. Grilled white bun. Yellow mustard. Maybe relish, if you’re feeling brave.

Nothing fancy. That is kind of the point. The more you try to dress up a red snapper, the more it loses what makes it good. Maine food is often best when it is simple, specific, a little strange, and tied completely to a place.

Red snappers are exactly that. They show up at camp cookouts, family parties, gas station grills, Little League games, and Fourth of July spreads. Simone’s in Lewiston has been serving red dogs since 1908. Dexter has an entire Maine Red Hot Dog Festival every August. Bean’s even does Free Hot Dog Fridays at their Bangor shop in the summer.

But here is the part I find really interesting. The red snapper is changing. Not the snap. Not the hot dog itself. The red.

W.A. Bean has been working to replace the artificial dye with a natural dye. Part of that is because Red No. 3 is being phased out of food, and part of it is because the whole food dye conversation has changed. The funny thing is, if Bean’s does it right, most people will never notice.

That is the goal. Same snap. Same flavor. Same bright red hot dog coming off the grill, looking like it was plugged into an outlet. They have not said exactly what the new red is. Beet? Cherry? Something else entirely? Nobody outside the kitchen in Bangor seems to know.

I kind of hope they never tell us. There should still be a little mystery left in the world, especially when it comes to a bright red hot dog.

Where do you stand on red snappers?

Why Portland Is Still Called the Forest City

Forest City used to be one of Portland’s old nicknames. You still catch pieces of it here and there. Forest Avenue. Forest City Trail. Old postcards. Old signs. Old businesses that used the name because people probably knew what it meant. Now it mostly hides in plain sight.

Which makes it feel even stranger. I mean, yes, Portland has trees. Great ones. Deering Oaks, Baxter Woods, Evergreen Cemetery, the Western Prom, the old white pines leaning over the West End. But the Portland most of us move through every day feels more like brick, salt air, narrow streets, parking debates, and seagulls ripping open purple trash bags. If you were naming it now, you would probably end up with something more obvious. Port City. Lobster City. Brick City. So why Forest City?

The oldest hard clue I can find is not a park or some grand row of old trees. It is a cemetery. Forest City Cemetery was named in 1858, and it is not even in Portland. It is in South Portland, though Portland still owns it. The cemetery sits on nearly 100 acres and holds around 30,000 burials.

That feels very Portland to me. A little confusing geographically, but beautiful once you understand it. And a lot more interesting than just saying, “well, we have a lot of trees.”

The name seems to come from the mid-1800s, when cemeteries were not just places people were buried. They were also places people visited. Before every city had big public parks, families went to cemeteries to walk, sit, think, and be somewhere quiet and green. It sounds strange now, but at the time, a cemetery could be one of the prettiest public places in a city.

So maybe Forest City was never just about trees. Maybe it was about what Portland wanted to feel like. A city by the water, yes, but also a place with parks, cemeteries, elms, oaks, and enough shade to make a hard little port town feel softer around the edges.

Then, in 1879, Deering Oaks became part of the city. Fifty acres were deeded to Portland, and suddenly Forest City had a place you could actually point to. Ponds, paths, old trees, and a piece of open land big enough to make Portland feel like it could breathe.

There are days when Forest City feels almost funny, like an old nickname Portland has outgrown. But then you catch the city at the right angle.

Deering Oaks early in the morning. The Western Prom at golden hour. The canopy on Baxter Boulevard. An old cemetery where some of the best trees in Portland are standing watch over people who lived here before your street had traffic.

Then the name starts to make sense again. Not because Portland is a forest, but because it keeps trying to feel a little more like one.

Forest City is not really a description. It is more like a reminder. A city does not stay green by accident. Trees come down. Lots get paved. Shade disappears one storm, one project, one “necessary improvement” at a time. A street can lose a tree in one afternoon and not feel the same again for fifty years.

That is the thing about Forest City. It is quiet. It is not trying to sell you anything. It does not feel like a slogan. It feels older than that. Like Portland trying to remember that a city is better with shade.

And maybe it is not totally gone. Hearts of Pine has been bringing Forest City back too, which feels right. Some old names only work if people start using them again.

Hearts of Pine Forest City Shirts.

Portside Real Estate Group

Thinking of Moving?

🏡 Hi its me Jake! I write The Portland Logbook, but I also help people buy and sell homes in and around Portland.

If a move is on your mind, I’m always happy to help you think it through.

Lets get a coffee!

THIS WEEKS CONDITIONS
☀️ SUNRISE: 5:07 AM
🌅 SUNSET: 8:25 PM
✨ Local Opening’s: Ope!
✨ Local Food Opening’s: The Velvet Dog
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🐾 Adoptable Buddies of the Week! 🐾

🐶 Batty – 1 yr
Adventure is his favorite hobby. Batty is a smart, active pup who'd love a family that enjoys hikes, long walks, and plenty of play. If you're looking for a dog to do life with, he's ready.

🐱 Carl – 6 yrs
A little shy at first, but give him some time and Carl settles right in. He's looking for a quiet indoor home where he can relax, build trust, and be your low-key companion.

🐭 Chipper Charlie, Dust & Thunder – 2 yrs
Three best friends looking for one home. These sweet boys love people, enrichment, and anything that keeps them busy. Pea fishing, puzzle toys, cuddles... they're happy just spending time together and with you.

If the link doesn’t open anymore, it means they’ve already been adopted!

🐕 Interested? Check them out here