Nine Old Snack Foods

Marshmallows have been around since ancient Egypt, and were often used to soothe sore throats By the 19th century, French confectioners began whipping the marshmallow to the shape we know.

Pretzels are widely considered to be the world’s oldest snack food It is believed the modern pretzel’s predecessor was first made in the 6th century by an Italian monk, who used it as a treat to reward his youngest church attendees. The word “pretzel” is from the Latin word “pretzola,” which loosely translates to “little reward.”

Archeologists reporting finding popcorn ears that they can date all the way back to being snacked on some 5,600 years ago. Native Americans would throw popcorn ears right on a fire, in order to pop out kernels. ( I bought popping corn ears at Bass Pro and popped in microwave. Fun to watch the thing fill up with popcorn and spill out when the door was opened.)

Necco Wafers were first manufactured in 1847 and Oliver Chase invented a cutting machine that allowed the slices to be made so thin.

Cracker Jack most likely began in 1871 Chicago, IL when German immigrant Frederick William Rueckheim started cooking up and selling his own type of popcorn. By 1896, Cracker Jack was being produced for commercial sales.

In 1897, Pearle Bixby Wait trademarked the powdered gelatin dessert, called Jell-O.

Triscuits were first invented in 1903 in Niagara Falls, NY. Triscuits were originally larger, but shrunk down to their current size in1924.

The first Sunshine Hydrox cookie was made in 1908 and was followed by its Oreo competitor in 1912. The difference between Hydrox and Oreo is that Hydrox is a bit more crispy and less sugary, and the original Hydrox was Kosher.  Hydrox are supposed to become available again this year, but have yet to find them for sale.

Four Cookie Facts

The Fig Newton is named for Newton, Massachusetts where it was originally made.

Lorna Doones  were introduced in 1912. The shortbread biscuits were considered a product of Scottish heritage, and back then, Lorna Doone character was symbolic of Scotland.

Nabisco created 'Barnum's Animals' in 1902 and sold them in a little box designed like an animal cage with a string attached to carry and hang on Christmas trees. In 1948, the company changed the name to its current 'Barnum's Animal Crackers'. Fifty Four different animals have been represented by animal crackers since 1902. Currently, each package contains 22 crackers consisting of a variety of animals. The newest, a koala was added in September 2002, but later retired. Current animals include bear, camel, crocodile, elephant, giraffe, gorilla, horse, lion, seal, tiger, and zebra.

The name Oreo was inspired by the gold color used on early package designs. The French word for gold is Or. A number of other versions for the name persist, but this is most widely accepted.

The original name was Oreo Biscuit. It was renamed in 1921, to "Oreo Sandwich. In 1948, the Oreo Sandwich was renamed the "Oreo Creme Sandwich." It was changed in 1974 to the Oreo Chocolate Sandwich Cookie. Oreos are a knockoff of the Sunshine Hydrox cookie invented two years earlier.

Today, China has become the second largest Oreo market, after the United States.

Ten Oreo Cookie Facts

More sweet stuff. Oreos are the world’s best-selling cookie. The first Oreo cookie was made in 1912 in two flavors, original and lemon meringue at the original Nabisco bakery in New York City

The origin of the name Oreo is unknown, but a leading theory is that the name was derived from the French word “Or”, meaning gold (the early packaging was gold tin).

The cookie-to-creme ratio of an original Oreo cookie is 71% to 29%.
Double Stuf Oreos were introduced in 1974.
Big Stuff Oreos were introduced in 1987, and were about 10 times larger than a regular Oreo. They were discontinued in 1991.
Oreos became kosher in 1998.
50% of all Oreo eaters pull apart their cookies before eating them. Also, women twist them open more often than men.
In 1998, they introduced Oreo’Os cereal. The cereal was discontinued because Post and Kraft are no longer co-branding. Post owns the recipe to the cereal and Kraft owns the rights to Oreo

A Look Back to 1912

How have things changed in the past one hundred years?
New Mexico and Arizona joined the US as 47th and 48th states.

Here is a political quote from that year, "Former U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt wins all the Republican primaries, but party bosses beholden to Wall Street block his nomination by the convention."

Here are a few prices from 1912:
Federal spending 690 million dollars
World Series tickets box seat $5 (Bleacher seats 50 cents)
Chevy six cylinder $2,150
gas 7 cents gallon
Loaf of bread 8 cents
Pound of coffee 15 cents
Dozen eggs 22 cents
Pound of butter 35 cents
Milk 12 cents quart
Ham 15 cents pound
Bacon 16 cents pound
Oreo cookies came to market in 1912