DOUGHNUTS: THE “HOLE” STORY by Mary Davis

By Mary Davis

“Twixt optimist and pessimist

The difference is droll;

The optimist the doughnut sees -

The pessimist the hole.”

A poem in a New York Newspaper, 1904

Either by McLandburgh Wilson or Oscar Wilde

People have been deep frying these tasty treats—in one form or another—for millennia. One of the earliest mentions of something that sounds like it could be a doughnut is described like this, “. . . cakes mingled with oil, of fine flour, fried.” Leviticus 7:12, the Bible. Now, that might not be an actual doughnut, but when you fry cakes, that’s close enough to being a doughnut for this gal.

It’s hard to trace the history of doughnuts. Differing foodies give credit to Dutch, English, or German as the origin. When the Dutch came to Manhattan (then called New Amsterdam), they had a deep-fried sweet dough called olykoeks, a.k.a. oil balls. The English had a similar fried-dough treat. However, neither of these were the variety we think of with a hole in them.

Until 1847, doughnuts were hunks of deep-fried dough, often crispy on the outside with a doughy, uncooked center. A sixteen-year-old sailor Hanson Gregory on a lime-trading schooner claims he came up with the hole-in-the-center doughnut. He used the lid of a small pepper tin to cut out the center, removing what usually remained uncooked. Or, an alternate version claims, as the ship’s captain, Gregory requested something that he could put on the ship’s wheel while piloting through a storm, and a sailor came up with the hole in the doughnut. The story varies, but either way, Gregory is credited with the hole-in-the-middle invention. When he returned home to Maine and showed his mother, she began cooking them up, making them a local smash hit.

It’s easy to see how the first half of doughnut came about, but where did the “nut” come from? Three theories on that one. The first is that early ones were shaped a little like nuts. The second is that the Dutch sometimes filled the center (that often came out doughy) with things like almonds, walnuts, and other nuts, or even dried fruit. The nut would take up the space that normally didn’t cook, solving the problem. The third is that some early doughnuts were twisted and called dough knots. Perhaps, all three are true and came together in unity to be known as doughnuts.

Though a well-loved treat now, they weren’t fully embraced throughout the 19^th century until the Salvation Army took them to war in the 1910s. Two hundred and fifty Salvation Army volunteers went to the French front during WWI to provide snacks and food for the soldiers. The ladies had wanted to bake cakes and pies, but ovens weren’t available in the trenches. However, pots (and sometimes helmets) along with lard were, so they deep-fried doughnuts. They used juice bottles and shell casings to roll the dough. Then they cut them out with an empty baking powder tin and made the center hole with a broken part from an old coffee pot.

These ladies would be referred to as doughnut lassies, doughnut dolls, or doughnut girls. When the regiment leader told the ladies they had to stop serving doughnuts to men under fire, one volunteer said, “Colonel, we can die with the men, but we cannot leave them.” When the men returned from war, so did their appetites for doughnuts, contributing to the spread of these tasty treats.

Jewish Russian refugee immigrant Adolph Levitt opened many different kinds of shops after coming to the US. All failed until he opened a doughnut shop in Gotham, NY. People lined up around the block to try his creation. He couldn’t keep up with demand and realized he needed to develop a machine to speed up the process.

On a train, Levitt met an engineer, and together in 1920, they developed a working machine that rolled, cut, and fried the doughnuts—after the first eleven attempts had failed. Now, Levitt could produce hundreds of doughnuts an hour to keep up with the demand.

The poem at the beginning of this post was updated in 1929 by a Charleston, West Virginia restaurant to:

“As you ramble on through life, brother,

Whatever be your goal,

Keep your eye upon the doughnut and not upon the hole.”

Adolph Levitt had this version of the quote on the front door of all of his shops and on the doughnut boxes.

At the 1934 World’s Fair, doughnuts were touted as “the food hit of the Century Of Progress”, causing them to race across the country with almost instant success.

National Doughnut Day is only two weeks away on June 7^th! It’s the first Friday of June each year. It was started in 1938 as a fundraiser by the Salvation Army for needy people during the Great Depression. It is to celebrate the brave lady volunteers of the Salvation Army who went to the frontlines during the First World War to provide food for the soldiers. Some people say that November 5^th is National Doughnut day, but no one really knows why. Its main focus is simply on doughnuts. But why choose? Many celebrate both days by eating doughnuts. Works for me.

Here is a link to “The Parable of the Donuts”.

https://www.godsotherways.com/stories/2020/3/25/do-the-next-thing-4baw5-8faz4-8858t-9sdzk-dymwr-n38h7-bgk88-s5nrc-7z7dn

I’ve always loved maple bars (long johns), but as I’ve gotten older, I can only eat about a third of one at a time. Were they always that puckeringly sweet? But they are still mm-mm good.

What’s your favorite kind of doughnut?

THE QUILTING CIRCLE SERIES Box Set

Historical Romance Series

By Mary Davis

THE WIDOW’S PLIGHT (Book1) – Will a secret clouding a single mother’s past cost Lily her loved ones?

THE DAUGHTER’S PREDICAMENT (Book2) *SELAH & WRMA Finalist* – As Isabelle’s romance prospects turn in her favor, a family scandal derails her dreams.

THE DAMSEL’S INTENT (Book3) *SELAH Winner* – Nicole heads down the mountain to fetch herself a husband. Can she learn to be enough of a lady to snag the handsome rancher?

THE DÉBUTANTE’S SECRET (Book4) – Complications arise when a fancy French lady steps off the train and into Deputy Montana’s arms.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CNZPRRS2/ref=sr_1_7?crid=3NJNTQ5SD1WGB&keywords=the+quilting+circle+by+mary+davis&qid=1700957455&s=digital-text&sprefix=%2Cdigital-text%2C155&sr=1-7

 

MARY DAVIS, bestselling, award-winning novelist, has over thirty titles in both historical and contemporary themes. Her latest release is THE LADY’S MISSION. Her other novels include THE DÉBUTANTE'S SECRET (Quilting Circle Book 4) THE DAMSEL’S INTENT (The Quilting Circle Book 3) is a SELAH Award Winner. Some of her other recent titles include; THE WIDOW'S PLIGHT, THE DAUGHTER'S PREDICAMENT, “Zola’s Cross-Country Adventure” in The MISSAdventure Brides Collection, Prodigal Daughters Amish series, "Holly and Ivy" in A Bouquet of Brides Collection, and "Bygones" in Thimbles and Threads. She is a member of ACFW and active in critique groups.

Mary lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband of thirty-seven years and one cat. She has three adult children and three incredibly adorable grandchildren. Find her online at: Books2Read Newsletter Blog FB FB Readers Group Amazon GoodReads BookBub
 

Sources:

https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/doughnut-history

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Donut_Day

https://nationaltoday.com/national-donut-day/

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/national-donut-day-ctrp/index.html

https://www.bbvaopenmind.com/en/technology/visionaries/doughnuts-a-rounded-history-and-a-well-oiled-machine/

https://www.thespruceeats.com/the-history-of-doughnuts-1328766

https://www.myjewishlearning.com/the-nosher/how-this-jewish-immigrant-revolutionized-donuts-in-the-u-s/

https://www.roses2rainbows.com/2017/11/the-wisdom-of-doughnut.html

Mother of the Salvation Army

Catherine Booth

By Marilyn Turk

No one would have believed the shy, serious girl would ever stand up in front of a group and speak. But Catherine Booth felt God pulling her to the podium where her husband William preached.

Raised with a strong Christian upbringing, Catherine Mumford had developed strong convictions at an early age. Before she was twelve years old, she had read the Bible through eight times.

Although health problems kept her at home during her teen years, her father’s demise into alcoholism stirred her to write articles for a temperance magazine. She became an avid supporter of the national temperance society.

Her acceptance of Methodist Reformers in 1850 resulted in her expulsion by the Wesleyans. Undeterred, she led a girls’ Sunday school class for the Reformers. 

In 1851, 22-year-old Catherine heard young itinerant preacher William Booth recite a temperance poem, exciting her with his shared views.

Shy Catherine did not speak to William, however. Instead, she sent letters expressing appreciation for his beliefs. Three years of letters passed between the two before the relationship developed into marriage.

Catherine and William Booth

Catherine joined her husband in the ministry, staying in the background as most wives did. However, inspired by revivalist Phoebe Palmer, a woman whose preaching caused a great uproar, Catherine wrote a pamphlet, Female Ministry: Woman’s Right to Preach the Gospel (1859). The pamphlet conveyed three major principles - that women are neither naturally nor morally inferior to men, that there is no scriptural reason to deny them a public ministry, and that what the Bible urged, the Holy Spirit had ordained and blessed and must be justified. She complained that the “unjustifiable application” of Paul’s advice, “Let your women keep silence in the Churches,” had resulted in loss to the Church, evil to the world, and dishonor to God.

And so it was that in January 1860, following the birth of their fourth child, Catherine asked her husband if she could say a word to his congregation, a word that God had given her. William gave his approval and support, announcing that his wife would speak that night.

Catherine’s first sermon launched her preaching career. For twenty years, she and William shared a ministry as traveling evangelists, their preaching not done in established churches. Catherine’s preaching gained popularity, even in a world where women had few civil rights.

In 1865, the couple began The Christian Mission in London's East End to reach out to the poor and destitute of the city. While William preached salvation to the poor, Catherine spoke to wealthy women, gaining their financial support for the ministry.

Leaders of the established church felt threatened by the radical teaching of William and Catherine and sought to undermine their ministry. As a result, William was arrested, but Catherine carried on their work by holding meetings, preaching, and distributing food and clothing to the poor.

Many left traditional churches to join the couple’ work by helping to hand out food and going out into the streets to invite people to the services at the mission. To get attention, they often played musical instruments or sang hymns. Catherine thought the mission’s workers needed uniforms and flags to carry, so she made them. Because they resembled a small military unit, they began to be called the Salvation Army. The label may have been meant as ridicule, but Catherine adopted it, declaring “Members of the Salvation Army will fight on, waging war on poverty and injustice wherever we find it.” William became known as the army’s General.

The cause gained more support when the press recognized the good they were doing. Newspapers carried stories of Catherine Booth’s Food for the Million shops where the poor could buy a cheap meal and at Christmas, hundreds of meals were distributed to the needy.

By 1880, the Salvation Army was one of the most respected Christian groups in London, and soon expended across the ocean where it was welcomed in the United States.

Catherine passed away in 1890 at the age of 61, her husband and eight children at her side. Her death was eulogized in the newspapers with quotes from some of her famous sermons.

We are made for larger ends than Earth can encompass. Oh, let us be true to our exalted destiny.

A multi-published author, Marilyn Turk writes historical fiction about the coastal South. Her fascination for lighthouses spawned her popular weekly lighthouse blog @pathwayheart.com, and inspired her upcoming Coastal Lights Legacy series and her Lighthouse Devotions. Her novel, A Gilded Curse, releases March 2016 from Heritage Beacon Fiction, an imprint of Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas.

Lighthouse Devotions is a book of 52 inspiring stories about lighthouses and how they relate to God's Word and our lives. Available at amazon.com.