12390

Sliced Bread

Otto Frederick Rohwedder has been called the father of sliced bread. He worked for many years on developing a bread slicer, starting in 1912. His first efforts met with resistance from bakers, who informed him that the sliced bread would quickly go stale. By 1928, Rohwedder had finally designed a slicer that would also wrap the bread. A baker in Battle Creek, Michigan was the first to begin using his machine.

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A blessed thing it is for any man or woman to have a friend, one human soul whom we can trust utterly, who knows the best and worst of us, and who loves us in spite of all our faults.

12391

SPAM

Spam was developed by George A. Hormel & Co. and first marketed in 1937.

During WW II, Hormel sold more than half of its output to the U.S. government, which supplied SPAM to the armed forces of the U.S., and also to the U.S.S.R. under the lend-lease program.

The 1 billionth can of spam was sold in 1959.

Spam (canned meat) is produced in Fremont, Nebraska.

__________________
A blessed thing it is for any man or woman to have a friend, one human soul whom we can trust utterly, who knows the best and worst of us, and who loves us in spite of all our faults.

12392

StarKist Tuna

Charlie the Tuna, the colorful marine representative of StarKist Tuna, made his first appearance in a TV commercial for StarKist, in 1961.

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A blessed thing it is for any man or woman to have a friend, one human soul whom we can trust utterly, who knows the best and worst of us, and who loves us in spite of all our faults.

12393

Straws

The first drinking straw was constructed by winding strips of paper around a pencil and gluing it together. The first patent for a wax coated paper drinking straw (made by this spiral winding process) was issued to Marvin C. Stone of Washington, D.C. in 1888. Initially the straws were all hand wound, but in 1906 his Stone Straw Company invented a machine to wind the straws.

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A blessed thing it is for any man or woman to have a friend, one human soul whom we can trust utterly, who knows the best and worst of us, and who loves us in spite of all our faults.

12394

Strawberry Shortcake

Plant City, Florida, the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World, holds the Guinness record for the world's largest strawberry shortcake. The 827 square-foot, 6,000 pound cake was made on Feb. 19, 1999 in McCall Park.

__________________
A blessed thing it is for any man or woman to have a friend, one human soul whom we can trust utterly, who knows the best and worst of us, and who loves us in spite of all our faults.

12395

SUGAR CUBES

Henry Tate, an English sugar merchant, patented a method of cutting sugar into small cubes in 1872. He made a fortune.

__________________
A blessed thing it is for any man or woman to have a friend, one human soul whom we can trust utterly, who knows the best and worst of us, and who loves us in spite of all our faults.

12396

SUGAR SMACKS

In 1953 Kellogg's came out with a new cereal, Sugar Smacks, which contained 56% sugar.

__________________
A blessed thing it is for any man or woman to have a friend, one human soul whom we can trust utterly, who knows the best and worst of us, and who loves us in spite of all our faults.

12397

APPLE CIDER

Apple cider in the U.S. is the same as apple juice.

Some companies will use the term cider to refer to apple juice with no preservatives, and apple juice to juice that has been pasteurized.

Fermented apple juice which is alcoholic, is called 'hard cider' in the U.S.

Unfermented apple juice is called 'apple juice' in most other countries, and the term 'cider' refers to 'hard cider'; it has been fermented and is an alcoholic beverage.

Cider was the most common fruit beverage in the U.S. up to the mid 19th century. Without refrigeration, fresh juice was very perishable, so apple juice was virtually all 'hard cider', being allowed to ferment to a low alcohol content, usually around 5 percent alcohol. Next to water, this cider was the cheapest and most widely available beverage year-round.

__________________
A blessed thing it is for any man or woman to have a friend, one human soul whom we can trust utterly, who knows the best and worst of us, and who loves us in spite of all our faults.

12398

Aunt Jemima Pancakes

Chris L. Rutt and Charles G. Underwood purchased the Pearl Milling Company in 1889, and came up with the novel idea of creating a ready-mixed pancake flour.* Rutt named it for a catchy tune called 'Aunt Jemima' which he had recently heard in a vaudeville show. Rutt and Underwood went broke in 1890, and sold the formula for Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix to the R.T. Davis Milling Company. Davis looked for a woman to represent the product, and hired an African American woman named Nancy Green from Chicago, Illinois.

At the 1893 Colombian Exposition in Chicago, Davis made an all-out effort to promote the new pancake mix, and built the world's largest flour barrel. 'Aunt Jemima' (Nancy Green) demonstrated how to use the new mix, and the exhibit was so popular, police had to control the crowds at the Aunt Jemima booth. Nancy Green was awarded a medal and proclaimed 'Pancake Queen' by the Fair officials. Soon signed to a lifetime contract by Davis, Green was a hit all across the country, as she toured demonstrating the new Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix, and by 1910 it was available nationally. She played the part of Aunt Jemima until her death on September 24, 1923 (she died in a car accident).

Aunt Jemima Mills were purchased in 1925 by the Quaker Oats Company of Chicago.

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A blessed thing it is for any man or woman to have a friend, one human soul whom we can trust utterly, who knows the best and worst of us, and who loves us in spite of all our faults.

12399

AVOCADO

Avocados have been cultivated in Central America for almost 7,000 years.

Avocados are about 22% fat, with the average medium size avocado containing 300 calories and 30 grams of fat.

Fallbrook, California is the Avocado Capital of the World. More avocados are grown there than any place else in the U.S.

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A blessed thing it is for any man or woman to have a friend, one human soul whom we can trust utterly, who knows the best and worst of us, and who loves us in spite of all our faults.

12400

BAGELS

Bagels are formed from an eggless dough (flour, yeast, water and oil) into a donut shape, then droped in rapidly boiling water, cooked 3 - 5 minutes on one side then flipped and cooked 3 -5 minutes more on the other side. Drained, sometimes brushed with egg and then baked for 10 minutes or so.

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A blessed thing it is for any man or woman to have a friend, one human soul whom we can trust utterly, who knows the best and worst of us, and who loves us in spite of all our faults.

12401

Baby Food

Never give honey to infants under 1 year old, as honey may contain Clostridium botulinum spores to which infants have very little resistance. Once ingested, these spores may germinate and release deadly toxins. Once infants are a year or so old, they have developed some resistance to botulinum spores.

Real Baby Food. When U.S. companies begin marketing their products in Africa, it is common practice to have a picture on the label of what is inside, since most people there can not read English. Gerber Baby Food was not aware of this, and ran into a problem, since the photo on their label is of a cute Caucasian baby.

__________________
A blessed thing it is for any man or woman to have a friend, one human soul whom we can trust utterly, who knows the best and worst of us, and who loves us in spite of all our faults.

12402

BAKED BEANS

Native Americans flavored their baked beans with maple syrup and bear fat, and baked them in earthenware pots placed in a pit and covered with hot rocks. The Pilgrims most likely learned how to make baked beans from the Native Americans, substituting molasses and pork fat for the maple syrup and bear fat.

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A blessed thing it is for any man or woman to have a friend, one human soul whom we can trust utterly, who knows the best and worst of us, and who loves us in spite of all our faults.

12403

BASKIN ROBBINS ICE CREAM

25% of Baskin Robbins ('31 flavors') ice cream sales are for plain vanilla.

__________________
A blessed thing it is for any man or woman to have a friend, one human soul whom we can trust utterly, who knows the best and worst of us, and who loves us in spite of all our faults.

12404

Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream

Ben & Jerry's ice cream company was founded in 1978 in Burlington, Vermont, in a renovated gas station by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield.

Waste from Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream company is given to local farmers in Vermont to feed to their hogs. It is said the hogs don't particularly care for the Mint Oreo.

__________________
A blessed thing it is for any man or woman to have a friend, one human soul whom we can trust utterly, who knows the best and worst of us, and who loves us in spite of all our faults.