Have an Animal Cracker! - and a Giveaway

 By Davalynn Spencer

Crackers are my downfall. Especially those that are slightly sweet. Somehow, I feel less guilty for binging, um, I mean eating a few.

No cooking required, right? Add a hot cup of tea or coffee, and I have a perfect meal substitute to fuel me through a writing project. Maybe that’s why D.F. Stauffer's animal crackers showed up in my latest novella, Just in Time for Christmas.

The year 1875 in the Old West saw most people preparing their own food with few exceptions: those who could afford to hire a cook or eat at cafés and hotels, and those who showed up on time during a cattle drive for whatever Cookie had prepared.

There were no fast-food places, unless one considered hard tack and jerked beef fast food. If so, that fare could be found a short reach away in one’s saddlebags.

American tastes for British “biscuits” (crackers) ensured the import of such delectables from England, which led domestic bakers to try their hand at the craft. (The term “cracker” was reportedly coined by New York baker Josiah Bent in 1801 for a crunchy biscuit/cookie.)

D.F. Stauffer and son Albert in the Stauffer's Steam Biscuit Bakery delivery wagon, 1989.
(Image from author's collection: A Cookbook, by D.F. Stauffer, York, PA Mennonite Biscuit Cookie Company)

D.F. Stauffer Biscuit Company’s famous animal-shaped crackers first showed up in York, Pennsylvania, in 1871. According to the introduction in A Cookbook, by D.F. Stauffer, David F. Stauffer began his venture with five barrels of crackers from a business founded in 1858 by Jacob Weiser. The Stauffer cracker barrels were delivered by wheelbarrow. Today, Stauffer's products are delivered by semi-tractor trailers across the United States and several other countries. 

Two additional Stauffer bakeries also produce animal crackers and other products in Cuba, New York, and Santa Ana, California. Some crackers come in unique flavors, such as cheddar-cheese whales and ginger-flavored “snaps,” but animal crackers remain their best seller. 

From author's "collection." Stauffer's Animal Crackers

In the 1800s, other domestic bakeries joined forces as the New York Biscuit Company in 1889. The National Biscuit Company formed in 1898, which we recognize today as Nabisco.

Over the years, conglomerate mergers have swallowed the once privately owned bakeries. But Stauffer’s Animal Crackers live on (not to be confused with Nabisco’s Barnum Animals of 1902 origin). 

From author's collection.

According to the stauffers.com web site, Stauffer's is currently owned by Meiji Seika of Japan. There are currently 13 animal-cracker shapes. My favorite, of course, was always the horse. 

Thirteen animal shapes still offered today by Stauffer's Animal Crackers.
Image courtesy Wikipedia.

What about you? Do you (or did you) have a favorite animal-cracker shape? Regardless of its origin, share your chosen animal shape in the comments below, and I’ll toss your name in the cookie tin for a drawing. The randomly-chosen winner will receive a signed print copy of A High-Country Christmas Romance Collection which includes Just in Time for Christmas.

Happy munching!

Davalynn Spencer can’t stop #lovingthecowboy. As the wife and mother of professional rodeo bullfighters, she writes romance for those who enjoy a Western tale with a rugged hero, both historical and contemporary. She holds the Will Rogers Gold Medallion for Inspirational Western Fiction, teaches writing workshops, and plays the keyboard on her church worship team. When she’s not writing, teaching, or playing, she’s wrangling Blue the Cowdog and mouse detectors Annie and Oakley. Learn more about Davalynn and her books at www.davalynnspencer.com. Become a newsletter friend and receive a free historical novella: http://eepurl.com/xa81D.