Brent SleeperJun 1, 2025
Hot dog stand 31 (2 slice, 2 topping).

#StreetArt #PublicArt #UtilityBox #Color #Yellow #Red #Windows31 #Divisadero #WesternAddition #SanFrancisco
Show threadBrent SleeperJun 1, 2025
“And then you get to [#Windows31’s] ‘Hot Dog Stand.’ Which is utterly insane. And that makes it quite possibly the greatest color scheme ever devised.” Spinning a deep cut from the legendary @codinghorror. https://blog.codinghorror.com/a-tribute-to-the-windows-31-hot-dog-stand-color-scheme/
A Tribute to the Windows 3.1 “Hot Dog Stand” Color Scheme

Yesterday’s post about code syntax color schemes got me thinking about what is perhaps the ultimate color scheme, Windows 3.1’s “Hot Dog Stand”: The truly funny thing about this color scheme is that all the other Windows 3.1 color schemes are surprisingly rational, totally reasonable color

Coding Horror
Show threadBrent SleeperJun 1, 2025
I already was several years into my baptised-and-sanctified use of the Mac when I first encountered #Windows31 at a post-college job in late 1992 and 1993. Windows seemed mediocre at best, but the Hot Dog Stand theme was bonkers. I literally did not understand it.
Show threadBrent Sleeper
Though I did have a lot of fun flirting with a crush at this job via the DOS-based #WordPerfect suite’s intraoffice email. The #CP437 character set’s proto-emoji smilies at 0x1 and 0x2 were super helpful for making clear our double-entendres.
Jun 1, 2025 at 7:38amWeb
Show threadBrent SleeperJun 1, 2025
I was familiar with old-school plaintext emoticons like :-) and ;-), but the simple graphical version in WordPerfect seemed special to me. Kinda funny, given that I had been a graphical UI person used to much more sophisticated text fonts and graphics for a few years at that point.
Show threadBrent SleeperJun 1, 2025
Also reminds me that the state government for which I worked at the time had minimally authenticated dial-in access to a VAX from which I could telnet out or start up SLIP or PPP to do Gopher, FTP, and I think rudimentary (Lynx-based?) www net surfing from my Mac after hours at home.
Show threadBrent SleeperJun 1, 2025
Funny what memories that yellow-and-red paint brought to mind, 32,33 years later.