Helen Keller's Favorite Food Was An American Summer Classic

Helen Keller is a worldwide phenomenon of a woman who left behind a legacy of perseverance and courage. If you remember learning about Keller in grade school, you may remember that she was both blind and deaf, and despite this, she graduated college, published 12 books, became a public speaker, and more. A TikTok video explaining her history has over 10.8 million views, with comments from viewers who are blown away by how she became such a successful reader, writer, and speaker despite her disabilities. 

Due to her impressive legacy and the big-picture conversations surrounding her existence, there is one thing about Keller that is often not spoken about at all — what was her favorite food?

Having a favorite food is innate in our lives, and Keller's favorite food is a classic, simple one to offset the extravagance of her impressive history. According to Helen Selsdon, an archivist for the American Foundation for the Blind, Keller's favorite food was hot dogs. Specifically, she liked to keep things simple, sticking to mustard and relish as her condiments of choice.

Whether enjoyed on the stick or as a sandwich, many people have a love/hate relationship with hot dogs, regardless of the style in which they're prepared. While many Americans love debating on which is the best hot dog, 43% would rather not know what they are made of, likely because they enjoy the iconic summer fare so much. And yet, one of the most iconic women in American history enjoyed them wholeheartedly.

Helen Keller would frequent hot dog stands throughout her life, and she ate the food as often as she could; she loved hot dogs so much that one of her secretaries supposedly banned the food at home, concerned that Keller wouldn't eat anything else. It is said that her sense of taste must have been exquisitely honed, given that two of her other senses were impeded, so it is possible that she had even more of a keen flavor profile for hot dogs than some of the food's most passionate supporters.

Furthermore, Keller stayed true to the classics with her drink of choice — it's an interesting fact that she was partial toward martinis. Helen Selsdon even noted that Keller was a regular drinker, so she likely enjoyed martinis almost as often as she wrote about them.