1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,400 Speaker 1: Are you guys. We've gone a little nutty with this topic, 2 00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:04,440 Speaker 1: but there's so much more to talk about. 3 00:00:04,760 --> 00:00:06,519 Speaker 2: Yes, we're nuts about peanuts. 4 00:00:08,320 --> 00:00:12,000 Speaker 1: My name is Evel Longoria and I am Myra and 5 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:16,760 Speaker 1: welcome to Hungry for History, a podcast that explores are 6 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:18,160 Speaker 1: past and present through food. 7 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:20,560 Speaker 3: On every episode, we'll talk about the history of some 8 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:24,200 Speaker 3: of our favorite dishes, ingredients, and beverages from our culture. 9 00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:30,720 Speaker 1: So make yourself at home. Even so, you grew up 10 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:34,360 Speaker 1: with some Mexican idioms, right, because I don't. I don't 11 00:00:34,360 --> 00:00:37,920 Speaker 1: have any Mexican I don't have any detols that mentioned 12 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:38,760 Speaker 1: peanut in it. Do you? 13 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:42,559 Speaker 3: I have just one even ever heard that? 14 00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:46,760 Speaker 2: Like it means peanuts to. 15 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:48,240 Speaker 1: Me, Like it doesn't matter. 16 00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:50,839 Speaker 3: It's a matter which is which is ironic, right, because 17 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:54,800 Speaker 3: peanuts are an essential ingredient in Mexican cooking and marlaise 18 00:00:54,840 --> 00:00:56,760 Speaker 3: and and Santa Mata. 19 00:00:57,000 --> 00:00:59,320 Speaker 2: And they're filled with protein vitamins. 20 00:00:59,360 --> 00:01:03,600 Speaker 3: But it's small and cheap and synonymous with something kind 21 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:04,959 Speaker 3: of unimportant. 22 00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:08,319 Speaker 1: So it's like small. That's why, speaking of idioms, you know, 23 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:11,440 Speaker 1: he's a nut job. You're a nut You're so nutty. 24 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:15,280 Speaker 1: I'm nuts about him. He makes me nuts. The peanut gallery. 25 00:01:15,440 --> 00:01:18,600 Speaker 1: Like there are so many idioms in English, like so 26 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:22,080 Speaker 1: many the nut can be a crazy person, a testicle, 27 00:01:23,600 --> 00:01:27,680 Speaker 1: a person's physical head. How did the nut become so 28 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:31,560 Speaker 1: important in our English language? Right? 29 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:34,399 Speaker 2: And even like an exclamation like, oh my god, that's nuts. 30 00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:36,240 Speaker 2: It's so funny. 31 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:40,679 Speaker 3: So I love food related idioms, so it's you know. 32 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:43,280 Speaker 3: Some of them referred to the physical description of the 33 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:46,959 Speaker 3: nut as is hard round out herself with something valuable inside, 34 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:49,800 Speaker 3: like like the brain and the skull, like if you're 35 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:54,680 Speaker 3: nuts about somebody, they're like embedded in your head. But 36 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:58,520 Speaker 3: according to some sources, this definition days back to the 37 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:02,920 Speaker 3: eighteenth century, like early seventeen eighty five we see this reference. 38 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:06,000 Speaker 1: And then it was in a newspaper comic, right the 39 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:08,560 Speaker 1: first time nuts were seen as like crazy. 40 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:11,680 Speaker 3: A comic strip named Mutt and Jeff and in nineteen 41 00:02:11,720 --> 00:02:14,200 Speaker 3: oh eight, so super early to be off one's nut 42 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:17,639 Speaker 3: meant to be separated from your head. And then if 43 00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:21,120 Speaker 3: something is nutty it developed from that as like something 44 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:24,160 Speaker 3: is you know, silly or crazy or eccentric. 45 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:27,160 Speaker 1: Oh this one, I love the peanut gallery Like all right, 46 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:31,160 Speaker 1: U hush peanut gallery, Like I used actually used this 47 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:33,239 Speaker 1: one a lot and I love that it comes for 48 00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:38,720 Speaker 1: the vaudeville era because the cheapest seats or the gallery 49 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:42,480 Speaker 1: were filled by the poor members of the audience who 50 00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:46,440 Speaker 1: were stereotyped as like unruly or like they were the hecklers, 51 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:48,519 Speaker 1: and they would throw peanuts because it was like the 52 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:52,519 Speaker 1: cheap snack sold at theaters. And then in the segregated South, 53 00:02:52,760 --> 00:02:57,200 Speaker 1: these seats were largely occupied by black patrons. So this 54 00:02:57,320 --> 00:03:00,400 Speaker 1: phrase of like the peanut gallery, it was a phrase 55 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:06,400 Speaker 1: that gained cultural recognition even though it's had offensive origins. 56 00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:09,840 Speaker 1: It became less obvious because it was used in a 57 00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:15,120 Speaker 1: children's program How Toy Doty in the nineteen forties and fifties, 58 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:19,040 Speaker 1: and the show featured this boisterous studio audience of children 59 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:24,240 Speaker 1: known as the penut gallery. So today it's used to 60 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:28,239 Speaker 1: describe a group of people offering unsolicited comments. I do 61 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:31,840 Speaker 1: not care what you have to contribute to this conversation, 62 00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:36,120 Speaker 1: you peanut gallery. But understanding its historical roots, there are 63 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:40,520 Speaker 1: so many horrible phrases that we don't realize how really 64 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:42,840 Speaker 1: dark origins, like crack the whip when you want somebody 65 00:03:42,880 --> 00:03:44,600 Speaker 1: to like, let's go, guys, crack the whip. We've got 66 00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:48,200 Speaker 1: to get going that I have such an allergic reaction 67 00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:50,920 Speaker 1: when I hear that, because I think people don't realize 68 00:03:50,920 --> 00:03:53,400 Speaker 1: where it comes from. It's important to being mindful of 69 00:03:53,440 --> 00:03:54,640 Speaker 1: the origins. 70 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:56,080 Speaker 2: To know what we're saying. 71 00:03:56,320 --> 00:03:58,960 Speaker 1: So, okay, we left off the last episode with Mexico, 72 00:03:59,520 --> 00:04:02,120 Speaker 1: so let's give a recup on how the peanut got 73 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:02,760 Speaker 1: to the US. 74 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:07,880 Speaker 3: So Portuguese conquers. It took it from Brazil to Africa 75 00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:11,880 Speaker 3: and the fifteen hundreds, and they rapidly spread across the continent, 76 00:04:11,960 --> 00:04:15,240 Speaker 3: you know, so much so the botanists mistakenly believed that 77 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:18,960 Speaker 3: they were native to Africa, and then enslaved West Africans 78 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:21,960 Speaker 3: carried peanuts to North America and we actually see the 79 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:26,800 Speaker 3: first recorded peanut were you know, referenced in sixteen ninety 80 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:31,559 Speaker 3: in Charleston. And so initially the peanuts were grown mainly 81 00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:35,800 Speaker 3: for animal feed, but enslaved Africans began cultivated them to 82 00:04:35,880 --> 00:04:40,680 Speaker 3: supplement their meager food rations, and they became integral to 83 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:44,560 Speaker 3: Southern food traditions. They were often grown and garden plots 84 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:48,320 Speaker 3: tended by enslaved people for their own you know, sustenance, 85 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:52,520 Speaker 3: and up until the American Revolution, peanuts were cultivated primarily 86 00:04:52,760 --> 00:04:57,200 Speaker 3: by African Americans in their own garden patches for their families. 87 00:04:57,320 --> 00:05:00,440 Speaker 1: Well, so there were such sustenance, like it was such 88 00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:02,840 Speaker 1: an easy way to get nutrition. 89 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:06,359 Speaker 3: And so for many years they were dismissed as animal 90 00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:10,240 Speaker 3: fodder or poor people's food. But then after the Civil 91 00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:14,480 Speaker 3: War they started gating wider acceptance because soldiers on both 92 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:17,120 Speaker 3: sides they needed them for nutrition. They relied on them 93 00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:20,120 Speaker 3: for energy and protein. But they also really liked them. 94 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:23,360 Speaker 1: They're fun to eat. I will say that they are. 95 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:27,080 Speaker 2: They are there's something very I don't know, they're festive 96 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:27,719 Speaker 2: about it. 97 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:30,720 Speaker 1: But the soldiers this makes sense because they would provide 98 00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:33,400 Speaker 1: energy and protein for them, right. And then after the 99 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:37,560 Speaker 1: Civil War, what happened? How did they stay and demand? 100 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:40,720 Speaker 3: They just you know, soldiers really liked them. And then 101 00:05:40,760 --> 00:05:44,480 Speaker 3: they started becoming popular everywhere. The South started shipping more 102 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:48,000 Speaker 3: and more peanuts to the North as urban demand for 103 00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:52,520 Speaker 3: peanuts and these growing cities, they just sort of boomed 104 00:05:52,600 --> 00:05:56,240 Speaker 3: like people wanted peanuts. And then we slowly start seeing 105 00:05:56,279 --> 00:06:00,760 Speaker 3: peanut based recipes in cookbooks for white you know, elite, 106 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:05,480 Speaker 3: And one of the earliest was Sarah Rutledge, this woman 107 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:09,400 Speaker 3: who wrote Carolina Housewife in eighteen forty seven. She has 108 00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:12,839 Speaker 3: a ground nut soup, and ground nuts is what the 109 00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:16,280 Speaker 3: peanut was called in Africa, and it was beaten peanuts 110 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:19,880 Speaker 3: simmered with a pint of oysters and Chile. 111 00:06:20,320 --> 00:06:23,719 Speaker 1: Oh wow, Chile, says a seed pepper or two, so 112 00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:26,320 Speaker 1: a chilo o some sort of Chile. And then we 113 00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:29,520 Speaker 1: did mention the last episode. By the eighteen eighties, like 114 00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:33,479 Speaker 1: the late eighteen hundred, streetcart vendors and traveling circuses were 115 00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:38,080 Speaker 1: offering these hot roasted peanuts to fair goers and audience 116 00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:40,880 Speaker 1: members across America. So then that kept it alive as. 117 00:06:40,800 --> 00:06:42,479 Speaker 2: Well, right, and street vendors. 118 00:06:42,480 --> 00:06:44,280 Speaker 3: That's a really important part of the story of the 119 00:06:44,279 --> 00:06:46,960 Speaker 3: peanut everywhere really, because they were sold in mes amarkets 120 00:06:47,160 --> 00:06:50,080 Speaker 3: as well. But in the US there's street vendors have 121 00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:52,680 Speaker 3: always had their finger on the pulse, right, They know 122 00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:55,159 Speaker 3: what people want and they get instant feedback. 123 00:06:55,320 --> 00:06:58,320 Speaker 1: Yeah no. And so when these American cities experienced all 124 00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:01,400 Speaker 1: this rapid growth of like mass migration in the late 125 00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:05,719 Speaker 1: eighteen hundreds nineteen hundreds, it feels like this created a 126 00:07:05,880 --> 00:07:11,400 Speaker 1: market that needed a convenient and affordable street snack, especially 127 00:07:11,440 --> 00:07:14,560 Speaker 1: in places like New York City or Chicago and things 128 00:07:14,600 --> 00:07:17,480 Speaker 1: like that. So I always think, you know, all good things, 129 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:22,520 Speaker 1: at least good food come from immigrant communities, right totally. 130 00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:25,760 Speaker 3: And a lot of these immigrants who didn't have, you know, 131 00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:29,200 Speaker 3: weren't proficient in the English language, or didn't have a 132 00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:32,240 Speaker 3: capital to start, you know, a business, they turned to 133 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:35,560 Speaker 3: push cart vending to survive because the startup costs for 134 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:37,880 Speaker 3: a simple cart and a sac of peanuts were really, 135 00:07:37,920 --> 00:07:41,200 Speaker 3: really low, and so peanut vending became a. 136 00:07:41,280 --> 00:07:43,200 Speaker 1: Very viable option for a lot of people. 137 00:07:43,480 --> 00:07:48,880 Speaker 3: And this trade provided this entry point into entrepreneurship in 138 00:07:48,920 --> 00:07:51,320 Speaker 3: these bustling American cities. 139 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:04,040 Speaker 1: So we can't talk about peanuts without mentioning George Washington Carver. 140 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:09,240 Speaker 3: George Washington Carver born around eighteen sixty five, nobody really 141 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:14,240 Speaker 3: knows exactly, and he rose from this sickly orphaned child 142 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:17,400 Speaker 3: he was born in a Missouri farm to become one 143 00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:23,400 Speaker 3: of America's most influential scientists and educators. He transformed agriculture 144 00:08:23,520 --> 00:08:27,040 Speaker 3: and the perception of peanuts in the US to a 145 00:08:27,120 --> 00:08:31,680 Speaker 3: really important product. So this guy was born in a 146 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:35,120 Speaker 3: one room cabin in Missouri on a farm owned by 147 00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:39,319 Speaker 3: these German immigrants, Moses and Susan Carver. His mother had 148 00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:43,160 Speaker 3: been enslaved. We don't know who his father was. And 149 00:08:43,280 --> 00:08:45,319 Speaker 3: when he was a child, George and his mom were 150 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:49,760 Speaker 3: kidnapped and taken to Arkansas, and he was eventually returned 151 00:08:49,880 --> 00:08:55,199 Speaker 3: when Moses Carver traded a horse for him. He never 152 00:08:55,200 --> 00:08:59,720 Speaker 3: saw his mother again. It's this crazy story, like crazy story, 153 00:09:00,360 --> 00:09:04,760 Speaker 3: but he was educated. He earned a Masters of Agriculture 154 00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:08,319 Speaker 3: in eighteen ninety six and started working at the Tuskegee 155 00:09:08,320 --> 00:09:12,040 Speaker 3: Institute in Alabama as head of the agricultural department. So 156 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:17,600 Speaker 3: Carver he saw that tobacco and cotton farming had just 157 00:09:17,760 --> 00:09:21,640 Speaker 3: exhausted southern soils. So he started teaching poor farmers to 158 00:09:21,720 --> 00:09:26,720 Speaker 3: grow peanuts and sweet potatoes to improve the soil. You 159 00:09:26,760 --> 00:09:30,120 Speaker 3: know this like monoculture never really works, So to improve 160 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:33,160 Speaker 3: soil and to earn a living. And in nineteen fifteen 161 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:36,000 Speaker 3: he published a bulletin on peanuts. And this is at 162 00:09:36,040 --> 00:09:40,080 Speaker 3: a time that the boil weavil had devastated Alabama's cotton crops. 163 00:09:40,320 --> 00:09:43,199 Speaker 3: If farmers couldn't sell the peanuts that they had grown, 164 00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:45,240 Speaker 3: at least they could just eat them, right, and they 165 00:09:45,280 --> 00:09:50,439 Speaker 3: had a nutritious food source. And so his research identified 166 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:54,680 Speaker 3: over three hundred uses for peanuts, including like oils and 167 00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:59,480 Speaker 3: dyes and soaps and like even peanut based sausages. And 168 00:09:59,559 --> 00:10:06,000 Speaker 3: so he promoted agricultural sustainability and economic independence, helping black 169 00:10:06,040 --> 00:10:11,280 Speaker 3: farmers shift away from exploitive cotton farming while elevating the 170 00:10:11,320 --> 00:10:16,080 Speaker 3: reputation demand for peanuts. And so his legacy is one 171 00:10:16,360 --> 00:10:20,200 Speaker 3: you know, of science and education and innovation, and he 172 00:10:20,200 --> 00:10:22,800 Speaker 3: helped bring peanuts to the mainstream. 173 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:27,080 Speaker 1: So it was his research and agricultural efforts that really 174 00:10:27,600 --> 00:10:32,439 Speaker 1: put peanuts on the big stage in the US exactly. Well, 175 00:10:32,880 --> 00:10:36,320 Speaker 1: then by the twentieth century, peanuts were everywhere. They weren't 176 00:10:36,320 --> 00:10:40,120 Speaker 1: on the margins anymore. They were in mainstream and mostly 177 00:10:40,120 --> 00:10:43,280 Speaker 1: in the vaudeville and music halls. So if there was 178 00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:46,640 Speaker 1: any type of entertainment, somebody was selling peanuts. And the 179 00:10:46,720 --> 00:10:49,600 Speaker 1: cheapest seats were famously filled with the patrons eating peanuts 180 00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:53,439 Speaker 1: and throwing peanuts at performers, and it kind of cemented 181 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:58,320 Speaker 1: the snacks association with like mass entertainment. So then cinema 182 00:10:58,320 --> 00:11:01,600 Speaker 1: exploded in you know, around the nineteen twenties, and movie 183 00:11:01,600 --> 00:11:05,320 Speaker 1: theaters began selling peanuts with popcorn and candy because they 184 00:11:05,320 --> 00:11:09,800 Speaker 1: were very inexpensive concessions, and so then they were a 185 00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:13,719 Speaker 1: fixture in theaters by the nineteen twenties. So so interesting 186 00:11:13,800 --> 00:11:18,840 Speaker 1: that peanuts became this like standard fair at anything entertainment 187 00:11:18,880 --> 00:11:24,360 Speaker 1: and especially at baseball games and festivals. And this was 188 00:11:24,440 --> 00:11:28,800 Speaker 1: thanks to improved harvesting technology that allowed for mass production 189 00:11:28,880 --> 00:11:32,600 Speaker 1: and distribution. So I knew something had to happen totally, 190 00:11:32,679 --> 00:11:37,760 Speaker 1: and something had to happen with like industrial mass production 191 00:11:37,840 --> 00:11:40,520 Speaker 1: of peanuts because they became they were everywhere. 192 00:11:40,559 --> 00:11:44,720 Speaker 3: They were everywhere circuses, the circus peanuts, and like elephants 193 00:11:44,760 --> 00:11:47,920 Speaker 3: eat peanuts, that was a total circus thing. Elephants don't 194 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:50,160 Speaker 3: naturally eat peanuts, they eat grasses. 195 00:11:50,960 --> 00:11:53,720 Speaker 1: But it's like give it a peanut, all right. So 196 00:11:53,840 --> 00:11:56,880 Speaker 1: when does peanut butter come into the picture. I know 197 00:11:56,920 --> 00:11:59,800 Speaker 1: it has something to do with doctor Kellogg. 198 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:02,840 Speaker 3: So we established in part one the peanut butter or 199 00:12:02,920 --> 00:12:05,559 Speaker 3: peanuts have been part of pre Hispanic diets for centuries 200 00:12:05,559 --> 00:12:08,600 Speaker 3: and they were ground into paste. But peanut butter got 201 00:12:08,640 --> 00:12:12,960 Speaker 3: this boost thanks to this vegetarian doctor named John Harvey Kellogg. 202 00:12:13,600 --> 00:12:18,640 Speaker 3: In eighteen ninety five, he patented this food compound which 203 00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:21,400 Speaker 3: was basically peanut butter and he designed for his patients 204 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:27,160 Speaker 3: at his Battle Creek Sanitarium, and he launched this health 205 00:12:27,240 --> 00:12:31,720 Speaker 3: focused adventure creating plant based alternatives to meat, and one 206 00:12:31,760 --> 00:12:34,920 Speaker 3: of its stars was something called protos, which was a 207 00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:40,640 Speaker 3: peanut and wheat meat substitute. And this helped American see 208 00:12:40,640 --> 00:12:45,640 Speaker 3: peanuts as this protein packed, easy to digest food even 209 00:12:45,679 --> 00:12:49,040 Speaker 3: those who could not to meat. And it was advertised 210 00:12:49,040 --> 00:12:52,760 Speaker 3: as a food for the toothless, which is so old, 211 00:12:53,720 --> 00:12:55,280 Speaker 3: which is not at all appetizing. 212 00:12:56,880 --> 00:13:01,360 Speaker 1: John Kellog was really about this kind of vegetarian, plant 213 00:13:01,400 --> 00:13:03,439 Speaker 1: based alternative. 214 00:13:03,400 --> 00:13:06,280 Speaker 3: And people This is in the late eighteen hundreds, they 215 00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:10,680 Speaker 3: started telling people like magazines like Good Housekeeping telling readers 216 00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:12,600 Speaker 3: to make their own peanut butter with a meat grinder. 217 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:16,760 Speaker 3: And then in the nineteen hundreds, of former Kellogg employees, 218 00:13:16,800 --> 00:13:19,760 Speaker 3: a guy named Joseph Lambert invented machines to roast and 219 00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:25,479 Speaker 3: grite peanuts, and this made peanut butter cheap and wildly 220 00:13:25,720 --> 00:13:30,040 Speaker 3: available around the country. And then the Saint Louis World's 221 00:13:30,080 --> 00:13:33,080 Speaker 3: Fair in nineteen oh four was a turning point because 222 00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:36,520 Speaker 3: people tasted it along with peanut bread ale and roasted 223 00:13:36,559 --> 00:13:41,000 Speaker 3: peanuts and other health foods. It's always a world's fair, 224 00:13:41,040 --> 00:13:46,160 Speaker 3: that always always, it always is the world always a 225 00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:49,640 Speaker 3: turning point, always and it's always either the Chicago one, 226 00:13:50,120 --> 00:13:52,600 Speaker 3: the or the Saint Louis one or the London one, 227 00:13:52,640 --> 00:13:55,640 Speaker 3: like it's always the turning point of something. And they 228 00:13:55,640 --> 00:13:59,080 Speaker 3: had these advertisements that boasted the ten cents worth of 229 00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:03,839 Speaker 3: peanuts pecks six times the energy of a porter House steak. Interesting, 230 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:06,880 Speaker 3: and then during the Great Depression, the peanut butter, because 231 00:14:06,880 --> 00:14:10,640 Speaker 3: it was so cheap, it became a lunch box favorite. 232 00:14:10,120 --> 00:14:13,839 Speaker 1: Peanut butter and jelly sandwich, which emerged around this time 233 00:14:13,880 --> 00:14:17,640 Speaker 1: because during World War One, meat rationing made peanut butter 234 00:14:18,559 --> 00:14:24,400 Speaker 1: basically the protein alternative, and then this meatless mondays became popular. 235 00:14:24,400 --> 00:14:26,320 Speaker 1: I can't believe that that became popular in World War 236 00:14:26,360 --> 00:14:31,760 Speaker 1: One so long ago, but during this time or a 237 00:14:31,800 --> 00:14:35,520 Speaker 1: little after the war, families began pairing peanut butter with 238 00:14:35,600 --> 00:14:41,240 Speaker 1: these sweet fruit spreads. And then sliced bread was invented 239 00:14:41,280 --> 00:14:45,720 Speaker 1: in nineteen twenty eight, and that revolutionized sandwiches because they 240 00:14:46,040 --> 00:14:49,120 Speaker 1: you could do it quick and easy. You could assemble 241 00:14:49,200 --> 00:14:52,000 Speaker 1: this quick and easy. And then at the same time, 242 00:14:53,280 --> 00:15:01,560 Speaker 1: Joseph Rosefield pioneered partial hydra enation, which created this like creamy, 243 00:15:02,240 --> 00:15:07,080 Speaker 1: shelf stable peanut butter that could be shipped nationwide, and 244 00:15:07,160 --> 00:15:10,840 Speaker 1: that paved the way for Skippy peanut butter and Peter 245 00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:16,360 Speaker 1: Pan peanut butter, which if I eat peanut butter, I'm 246 00:15:16,440 --> 00:15:21,360 Speaker 1: usually I'm usually eating Skippy. Really, yeah, I don't know 247 00:15:21,400 --> 00:15:25,800 Speaker 1: which one's better by because there's there's Skippy, Jiffy, Peter Pan. 248 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:27,840 Speaker 1: I don't like the sweet lies. I like the salt 249 00:15:27,880 --> 00:15:29,400 Speaker 1: sells one like it. 250 00:15:29,680 --> 00:15:31,920 Speaker 2: I like you, Yeah, I like I don't like this 251 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:32,640 Speaker 2: sweet one. 252 00:15:33,080 --> 00:15:37,400 Speaker 1: World War two, again, peanut butter was included in soldier 253 00:15:37,520 --> 00:15:41,600 Speaker 1: rations uh and Skippy Skippy was actually included in the 254 00:15:41,640 --> 00:15:45,160 Speaker 1: peeb and Jay sandwiches that then became a staple and 255 00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:49,320 Speaker 1: kitchens across the US. Ninety percent of US households enjoy 256 00:15:49,760 --> 00:15:53,200 Speaker 1: peanut butter and jelly sandwiches sandwiches. Wasn't it Elvis's favorite 257 00:15:53,400 --> 00:15:57,480 Speaker 1: peanut butter and banana? Elvis's favorite sandwich? Yeah, I was banana. 258 00:15:57,160 --> 00:15:58,080 Speaker 2: Peanut butter and banana. 259 00:15:58,120 --> 00:16:08,280 Speaker 1: You're right. Well, since it's Halloween, let's talk a little 260 00:16:08,320 --> 00:16:10,960 Speaker 1: bit about the history of some of our favorite peanut 261 00:16:11,040 --> 00:16:14,440 Speaker 1: based candies. Yes, I well, this is the only way 262 00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:16,520 Speaker 1: I need a peanut is if it's in a candy 263 00:16:16,760 --> 00:16:20,640 Speaker 1: chocolate bar, sugar chocolate coated. Like, I'm not eating it 264 00:16:20,680 --> 00:16:22,000 Speaker 1: by itself. I'm just not doing it. 265 00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:24,920 Speaker 2: But I'm like the opposite. But I do like goobers. 266 00:16:25,480 --> 00:16:26,560 Speaker 1: So, oh, what's a goober? 267 00:16:26,760 --> 00:16:28,960 Speaker 3: Oh my god, you've never had goobers in movie theaters. 268 00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:32,160 Speaker 3: It's usually the snack that I get in movie theaters. 269 00:16:32,400 --> 00:16:33,960 Speaker 1: Nope, you've never had the goobers. 270 00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:37,160 Speaker 3: They have them in all of the movie theaters in La. Yeah, 271 00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:40,360 Speaker 3: it's basically an eminem without the candy coating. So it's 272 00:16:40,400 --> 00:16:44,280 Speaker 3: the original movie candy. So movie theaters they were booming 273 00:16:44,320 --> 00:16:48,119 Speaker 3: in the nineteen twenties, and it was there were popcorns 274 00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:50,640 Speaker 3: so it opp and nuts and these goobers. They were 275 00:16:50,640 --> 00:16:53,240 Speaker 3: easy to share, perfect for snacking in the dark. And 276 00:16:53,280 --> 00:16:56,400 Speaker 3: it was this combo of chocolate and crunchy peanut butters. 277 00:16:56,440 --> 00:17:01,640 Speaker 3: This combo was very novel and in algent. But just 278 00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:04,960 Speaker 3: to backtruck a little bit. In eighteen ninety four, Milton 279 00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:09,120 Speaker 3: Hershey a caramel maker from Lancaster, Pennsylvana, and he bought 280 00:17:09,119 --> 00:17:13,520 Speaker 3: a chocolate making machine and created the Hershey's Chocolate Company 281 00:17:14,119 --> 00:17:16,840 Speaker 3: and peanuts were not among the ingredients in his early 282 00:17:16,840 --> 00:17:19,520 Speaker 3: candy wars, but he kind of opened the path to 283 00:17:19,840 --> 00:17:24,840 Speaker 3: this sort of chocolate and peanut combo. And so this 284 00:17:25,160 --> 00:17:29,400 Speaker 3: Goober was originally the original candy, and the name Goober 285 00:17:29,600 --> 00:17:32,080 Speaker 3: made it memorable because it's kind of fun to say. 286 00:17:32,760 --> 00:17:36,560 Speaker 3: And the word comes from the Goula word goober, which 287 00:17:36,600 --> 00:17:39,520 Speaker 3: means peanuts. So you see this African connection. And then 288 00:17:39,520 --> 00:17:42,480 Speaker 3: there's a Baby Ruth, Baby Ruth. I do like a 289 00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:43,200 Speaker 3: Baby Ruth. 290 00:17:43,440 --> 00:17:45,840 Speaker 1: Where does that? What? Movies that Baby Ruth? 291 00:17:46,720 --> 00:17:47,199 Speaker 2: I don't know. 292 00:17:48,119 --> 00:17:58,480 Speaker 1: Goonies, of course, the goonies. I love that baby. This 293 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:02,080 Speaker 1: one is one of my favorite candies because it's like 294 00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:07,560 Speaker 1: peanut caramel nougat bar. It coded in chocolate I did. 295 00:18:07,640 --> 00:18:09,679 Speaker 1: What I didn't know was that in nineteen twenty one, 296 00:18:09,720 --> 00:18:15,520 Speaker 1: the Curtis Candy Company repackaged and rebranded a one called 297 00:18:15,760 --> 00:18:19,199 Speaker 1: Candy Cake, and they launched it as Baby Ruth. So 298 00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:21,240 Speaker 1: it was called something else before it was called Baby 299 00:18:21,320 --> 00:18:25,880 Speaker 1: Ruth and Curtis Candy Company. Curtis claimed that the name 300 00:18:25,960 --> 00:18:31,200 Speaker 1: came from Ruth Cleveland, the daughter of President Grover Cleveland, 301 00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:33,520 Speaker 1: who had died in nineteen oh four, and at the 302 00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:39,000 Speaker 1: same time, Baseball's Babe Ruth was becoming America's biggest sports star. 303 00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:44,520 Speaker 1: So many historians view this as a legal marketing ploy, 304 00:18:45,280 --> 00:18:49,159 Speaker 1: and it allowed Curtis to avoid paying baseball legend Babe 305 00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:53,840 Speaker 1: Ruth for the use of his name while still benefiting 306 00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:58,679 Speaker 1: from the public's like mental association with him. And so 307 00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:01,000 Speaker 1: when Babe Ruth tried to launch his own candy bar, 308 00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:07,520 Speaker 1: Curtis sued him for trademark infringement and one snicky Oh 309 00:19:07,560 --> 00:19:11,560 Speaker 1: my God, Baby Ruth was one of the earliest examples 310 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:14,320 Speaker 1: of clever branding and marketing in US candy history because 311 00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:16,080 Speaker 1: it wasn't just sold as a sweet, it was like 312 00:19:16,520 --> 00:19:20,919 Speaker 1: also marketed as fuel, like an energy bar for working Americans. 313 00:19:20,920 --> 00:19:24,639 Speaker 1: Can you imagine no Baby Ruth today, Like eat this, 314 00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:30,800 Speaker 1: it's an energy bar. No. No, So by the late 315 00:19:30,880 --> 00:19:34,440 Speaker 1: nineteen twenties, Baby Ruth was the number one five cent 316 00:19:34,480 --> 00:19:36,880 Speaker 1: candy bar in America. There's more important ones. We got 317 00:19:36,880 --> 00:19:38,879 Speaker 1: to get to the more important ones. Peanut butter cups, 318 00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:42,679 Speaker 1: Reese's Pieces, peanut em and M's right which I have 319 00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:44,639 Speaker 1: quit about those. I have a question about those. But 320 00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:46,680 Speaker 1: let's talk about the peanut peanut butter cup. Because when 321 00:19:46,760 --> 00:19:49,200 Speaker 1: was this born, This brilliant invention. 322 00:19:49,040 --> 00:19:50,399 Speaker 2: The peanut butter cup. 323 00:19:50,560 --> 00:19:52,840 Speaker 3: That's probably my favorite peanut butter can't because I don't 324 00:19:52,880 --> 00:19:55,560 Speaker 3: love me candies, but I do love to be Reese's 325 00:19:55,560 --> 00:19:58,040 Speaker 3: peanut butter bar. So it was born in nineteen twenty 326 00:19:58,040 --> 00:20:00,560 Speaker 3: eight in Pennsylvania in a basement kitchen by a man 327 00:20:00,640 --> 00:20:05,240 Speaker 3: named Harry Burnette Reese, who was a former dairy farmer 328 00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:09,199 Speaker 3: who worked for Milton Hershey and Hershey Pennsylvania, and so 329 00:20:09,280 --> 00:20:12,280 Speaker 3: in nineteen twenty eight he left the Hershey's dairy farm 330 00:20:12,359 --> 00:20:16,800 Speaker 3: to start his own candy business, and among them were 331 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:21,440 Speaker 3: penny cups, these little chocolate cups filled with sweet peanut butter. 332 00:20:21,680 --> 00:20:26,399 Speaker 3: And this combo was an instant hit, and by the 333 00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:30,560 Speaker 3: nineteen thirties, Reese's peanut butter cups became his signature candy. 334 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:35,280 Speaker 3: They were really inexpensive, they were totally indulgent, and this 335 00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:38,920 Speaker 3: was at a time when the Great Depression made people 336 00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:42,000 Speaker 3: crave these affordable luxuries. 337 00:20:41,760 --> 00:20:44,480 Speaker 2: And so he kind of found a niche. 338 00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:48,640 Speaker 3: He created a niche, and by nineteen sixty sixty three, 339 00:20:48,680 --> 00:20:51,720 Speaker 3: the Hershey Chocolate Company acquired Reese's business for twenty three 340 00:20:51,760 --> 00:20:54,480 Speaker 3: point five million dollars, and it was this kind of 341 00:20:54,560 --> 00:20:58,360 Speaker 3: balance of sal d, sweet, creamy, crunchy, and it was 342 00:20:58,400 --> 00:21:00,800 Speaker 3: there was nothing like this, and it was. 343 00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:05,960 Speaker 1: Packaged individually, and so they felt like shareable and personal. 344 00:21:06,080 --> 00:21:09,280 Speaker 3: And it's still one of the most popular candies in 345 00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:13,600 Speaker 3: the US, inspiring lots of spin offs, including Reese's Pieces, 346 00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:17,640 Speaker 3: which was made popular during an et the movie ET 347 00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:21,560 Speaker 3: when Elliott lures Et out of hiding, leaving a trail 348 00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:22,840 Speaker 3: of Reese's Pieces. 349 00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:26,280 Speaker 2: Wait, so did you know that? Originally Steven Spielberg wanted Eminem's. 350 00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:31,280 Speaker 1: Yes, I did know this, and they declined yes, oh 351 00:21:31,320 --> 00:21:35,080 Speaker 1: my god. But after the movie was released, sales of 352 00:21:35,119 --> 00:21:39,880 Speaker 1: Reese's Pieces skyrocketed, and the et that the product placement 353 00:21:40,160 --> 00:21:44,719 Speaker 1: is cited as one of the most successful product placements 354 00:21:44,760 --> 00:21:45,760 Speaker 1: in history. 355 00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:46,679 Speaker 2: It's fascinating. 356 00:21:46,680 --> 00:21:47,280 Speaker 1: It's so yeah. 357 00:21:47,440 --> 00:21:49,600 Speaker 2: I can't think of Recent's Pieces without thinking about ET. 358 00:21:49,800 --> 00:21:54,040 Speaker 1: I saw this argument on the TikTok or Instagram, one 359 00:21:54,040 --> 00:21:58,400 Speaker 1: of those places. And the peanut Eminem, which was invented 360 00:21:58,400 --> 00:22:00,639 Speaker 1: by Forrest Mars, which was the side of the Mars 361 00:22:00,720 --> 00:22:05,080 Speaker 1: Chocolate Empire. Founder. He got this idea from seeing soldiers 362 00:22:05,119 --> 00:22:09,200 Speaker 1: eating chocolate pellets coated and sugar during the Spanish Civil 363 00:22:09,280 --> 00:22:14,200 Speaker 1: War and this kind of prevented the chocolate from melting. 364 00:22:14,600 --> 00:22:18,240 Speaker 1: So the original Eminem's were plain chocolate with a candy 365 00:22:18,240 --> 00:22:23,080 Speaker 1: shell designed to survive the heat and transport, and that 366 00:22:23,160 --> 00:22:26,320 Speaker 1: was nineteen forty one. In nineteen fifty four, peanut m 367 00:22:26,400 --> 00:22:29,320 Speaker 1: and ms were introduced as a new variety, and then 368 00:22:29,320 --> 00:22:32,240 Speaker 1: it became the brand's top seller. But I saw this 369 00:22:32,359 --> 00:22:35,760 Speaker 1: argument on the Instagram or the TikTok where somebody said 370 00:22:36,119 --> 00:22:39,200 Speaker 1: the peanuts are the original, and this wife was like, no, 371 00:22:40,119 --> 00:22:42,639 Speaker 1: the original is just the chocolate, and he's like no, 372 00:22:42,800 --> 00:22:44,560 Speaker 1: and this husband and wife were fighting about it. So 373 00:22:45,359 --> 00:22:47,240 Speaker 1: just to let you guys know, the original m and 374 00:22:47,359 --> 00:22:50,800 Speaker 1: ms were plain chocolate, and peanut m and ms were 375 00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:55,040 Speaker 1: introduced almost fifteen years later, but it is the top seller. 376 00:22:57,320 --> 00:22:59,560 Speaker 1: I would like to settle this argument. 377 00:22:59,320 --> 00:23:00,159 Speaker 2: Once and for our. 378 00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:06,159 Speaker 3: So we went a little nutty on this topic. But 379 00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:08,600 Speaker 3: who knew this small and mighty peanut had so many 380 00:23:08,640 --> 00:23:09,480 Speaker 3: stories to tell? 381 00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:10,600 Speaker 2: Are you a convert? 382 00:23:10,640 --> 00:23:10,880 Speaker 1: Now? 383 00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:12,320 Speaker 2: Do you love peanuts? 384 00:23:12,480 --> 00:23:15,359 Speaker 1: I don't like peanuts by themselves, but I will say 385 00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:19,880 Speaker 1: I love our peanut peanut based candy history. I'll eat 386 00:23:19,880 --> 00:23:22,160 Speaker 1: a peanut butter and jelly I'll eat a peanut butter 387 00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:24,560 Speaker 1: and jelly sandal like I will say, I sometimes do 388 00:23:24,640 --> 00:23:27,119 Speaker 1: crab it, but I didn't go as nutty on this 389 00:23:27,160 --> 00:23:33,280 Speaker 1: topic as you. Next week, what are we talking about? 390 00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:37,680 Speaker 3: Next week? We're talking about our favorite condiment, mustard. Plus 391 00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:41,359 Speaker 3: I'm putting even to the test. Does she know her mustards? 392 00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:43,800 Speaker 1: I do know my mustard because I just got back 393 00:23:43,800 --> 00:23:48,400 Speaker 1: from France, from Dijon and learned all about mutad. So 394 00:23:48,680 --> 00:23:52,120 Speaker 1: leave us a message on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your 395 00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:54,679 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app. We love hearing from you. We'll see you 396 00:23:54,680 --> 00:24:02,080 Speaker 1: next week. Goodbye. Hungary for History is a Hyphenite media 397 00:24:02,119 --> 00:24:05,800 Speaker 1: production in partnership with Iheart'smikultura podcast network. 398 00:24:05,960 --> 00:24:08,800 Speaker 3: For more of your favorite shows, visit the iHeartRadio app, 399 00:24:08,920 --> 00:24:13,480 Speaker 3: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.