The Sausage Sizzle: New Zealand’s Evidence of Invention Over Australia

In 1939 the North Auckland Primary Schools rugby tournament in Kaitaia served hot dogs on sliced bread after a bun shortage, advertised as “Hot Dogs: New Style”. The phrase “sausage sizzle” appears in New Zealand in March 1942 when 18-year-old Beryl “Monnie” Menzies hosted a popular-girl fundraiser at a motor camp near the Waikato Brewery. Similar events followed: a December 1942 sausage sizzle for the Tikipunga Orphanage in Hikurangi and an October 1945 fundraiser for Christian students at Otago University.

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• 1939 – Kaitaia rugby tournament uses bread-slice hot dogs.

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• Mar 1942 – Hamilton popular-girl sausage sizzle (Beryl Menzies).

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• Dec 1942 – Hikurangi orphanage sausage sizzle.

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• Oct 1945 – Otago University Christian-student sausage sizzle.

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• 1946 – Forbes, NSW “Full Moon Sausage Sizzle” (Junior Country Women’s Association).

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• 1969 – First known photograph of a sausage sizzle (Taupo Fair).

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The 1942 Hamilton popular-girl fundraiser netted £19,025, equivalent to over $2 million today, and funded care packages for World II soldiers.

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The sausage sizzle remains a common fundraising method at hardware stores and community events in both nations; establishing its origin shapes cultural heritage narratives and national identity claims. The activity continues to be used by community groups to raise funds.

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Food historian Barbara Santic characterises the sausage sizzle as a distinct Australian style of barbecue, and journalist Mike Williams asserts that Australia can claim ownership of the practice. Their perspective cites the 1946 Forbes fundraiser as the origin.

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Australian sources list 1946 as the first charity sausage sizzle, while New Zealand records document events from 1939 and a 1942 use of the term. The 1941 Adamstown competition is described as a cook-off, not a fundraiser, leaving its relevance unclear. No pre-1940 definition of “sausage sizzle” exists, creating a gap in the historical record.

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• “the sausage sizzle is a uniquely Australian variant of the barbecue” — Barbara Santic, food historian

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• “of all the food culture in the world, Australia owns the sausage sizzle” — Mike Williams, journalist

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• “Nearly every day persons walking in Victoria Street have to run a gauntlet of appeals,” — Reporter, *Waikato Times*

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The debate continues in media and academic circles, prompting further archival research to pinpoint the sausage sizzle’s true origin.

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