World War One: A Brief History Of Donuts

Donuts have been around longer than the television. And no matter if it’s with coffee or on its own, Chocolate, or powered sugared, donuts have a special place in everyone’s heart. In the year, 1847, a ship captain’s mother, Elizabeth Gregory would fry balls of dough and serve them to the shipmates. Often times there would be walnuts or hazelnuts in the middle, dough inside would almost always be raw, giving it the humble name, the donut. Disguised by the greasy, raw middles of the donut Captain Hanson Gregory begun cutting the centers out. This appealed to the shipmates, not only would the donuts taste better, it would make more donuts! So, the next time Elizabeth made these delicious dough-balls, she cut holes into the middles fried the

Imagine the ship crew’s excitements when they’re donuts are sprinkled with nutmeg. Elizabeth was out doing herself and when the ship came back to the states, Hanson did not hesitate to show them this new creation. In World War One, woman volunteers brought millions of donuts to the homesick Americans in the trenches of France. In 1920 the first donut machine was created by Adolph Levitt, who sealed fresh donuts in his bakery. And so generations of kids, and adults, too, have stood transfixed by the Willy Wonka-like scene behind the glass of doughnut shops, learning in the process that the doughnut hole is built in, not cut out. (David A. Taylor, Smithsonian.com) In the 1930s the first Krispy Crème was opened in Paducah, Kentucky. The owner, Joe LeBeau, came from New Orleans to share his secret recipe. Soon the bright Neon sign saying, “Hot Donuts Now” Lit up in the store’s window, telling costumers when a fresh batch came out of the oil. Don’t think that Crispy Crème was the only donut place on the block. Dunkin Donuts opened in the late 1950s. However, this was also the time when the donut was beginning to be taken over by the urban