MPR’s Tracy Mumford takes a look at the history of one of Minnesota State Fair’s staples…the corn dog, which has been the unofficial food-on-a-stick of the Minnesota State Fair since 1947. That's the year the Pronto Pup came on the scene. And, yes: A Pronto Pup is a corn dog, despite what you might have been told.

There's cornmeal in both batters. And as much as Minnesota would like to claim this state fair signature as its own, the origins of the banquet on a stick' are actually much more complicated. The pronto pup and corn dogs themselves might have been born on a Labor Day weekend 77 years ago.