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Dolores Larkin celebrated her big 5-0 last week however she's 73 years old.
The birth of the "Hot Dog Lady" and Larkin's 50 years with Casper's Hot Dogs in Pleasant Hill were one and the same on Nov. 8.
 Her five decades of dedication were acknowledged by the owners of the local chain. About 100 people, who had crossed paths with Larkin in her dog days, attended a surprise celebration in honor of the faithful manager. Streamers also laced the walls of the Pleasant Hill store at 6 Vivian Drive, where Larkin spent 43 of those years. The first seven years of her work life were at a Casper's in Oakland.
Larkin can't recall the exact date of being christened with her title, but she remembers how it happened.
"A little boy this big," she said motioning with an open hand next to her hip, "yelled clear across the store, 'Mama, there's the Hot Dog Lady!'"
Since then, Larkin said she's been recognized by the nickname on a regular basis _ around town, at the grocery store, even on vacations far away from any sign of a Casper's.
"Three different people came up to me in Las Vegas and said 'What are you doing here?,'" she said. Similar incidents occurred on a trip to Hawaii when she was spotted by Bay Area natives who frequent the hot dog shop.
When Larkin took the first steps toward her long career, she said she never expected to still be working with weenies so many years later.
"I was just going to work long enough to get the kids Christmas presents," Larkin said.
The year was 1955 and a 23-year-old Larkin wanted to provide the best Christmas possible for her three children. She started at $1.25 an hour.
After the holidays, Larkin kept extending her resignation at the Oakland store, and has since seen many Christmases come and go under the Casper's logo. Even at 73, she doesn't have any plans to retire.
In 1962 she moved to Pleasant Hill and started working at the Casper's there. In her years at the Pleasant Hill store, Larkin witnessed the town blossom around her as she took notice from behind the counter.
"This town was real little," she recalled.
As the town's border's expanded and businesses popped up along the stretch of Contra Costa Boulevard, which she has a front row seat view to, Larkin said some things in her little hot dog world never changed.
"We still have customers come in here that came in when the store first opened," she said, grinning proudly.
The restaurant has been a second home to her five children, 11 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren, she said.
Larkin's family members can be spotted working beside her, or keeping her company while chatting from the opposite side of the counter.
And those that keep their distance from the hot dog shop know where to find "Grandma Hot Dog."
"If anybody needs to find me, they call down here," she said. "This is more like home." |
