During the mid 19th century, a New England’s ship captain had a wonderful mother who loved her son enough to make him food for his voyages. One item that never failed to make the trips were his mother’s deep-fried dough. Captain Gregory often made shipments of nutmeg and cinnamon which his mother used to perfect her delicious treats. Elizabeth Gregory often put hazelnuts or walnuts in the center where the dough did not always cook through.
In a literal way, the term ‘doughnut’ was created. However, the hole in the middle of the doughnut did not come to be until one stormy night at sea. Hanson Gregory was caught in the middle of an intense storm while eating one of his mother’s treats and needed both hands on the wheel. He stabbed one of the doughnuts on a spoke of the ship’s wheel and thus the doughnut with the hole in the middle was born.
ONE ITEM THAT NEVER FAILED
TO MAKE THE TRIPS WERE HIS
MOTHER'S DEEP-FRIED DONUTS.
The doughnut stayed a hidden treasure until World War I when millions of American soldiers found themselves homesick in the trenches of France. The women of the Salvation army served up fried dough to the front lines to give the soldiers a taste of home. Today, to honor the volunteers that served American soldiers, we celebrate National Doughnut day on the 5th of November. It is also celebrated on the first Friday of every June. The first doughnut machine was not invented until later in the 1920’s by Adolph Levitt in New York.
He began producing doughnuts in his bakery and they were a hit. This was the start of world wide taste sensation. New machines were produced that could whip out doughnuts faster and tastier than ever. Adolph was the lead in the doughnut industry making $25 million a year. But it wasn’t long until other bakers were opening up their own shops and selling the famous doughnut. Today, there are thousands of doughnut shops all over the country.
