I will confess that I have a fondness for doughnuts. For me,
doughnuts are as versatile as Forrest Gump’s shrimp.
You can deep-fry them, bake them, fill them, frost them, and
freeze them. There are doughnut holes, long john doughnuts, glazed doughnuts, sprinkled doughnuts, cake
doughnuts, pumpkin spice doughnuts, blueberry cake doughnuts, old fashioned doughnuts, coconut
topped doughnuts. Doughnuts for breakfast. Doughnuts for brunch. Doughnuts with coffee. Doughnuts with champagne. Doughnuts for lunch. Doughnuts for
afternoon snack. Doughnuts for supper. Doughnuts at midnight…
The concept of ‘doughnut’ evolved from lumps
of dough dropped in boiling oil and cooked until golden brown. But how did the
hole come about? Well, read on.
According to an article by Esther Inglis-Arkell*:
“…the makings of
doughnuts made it to American shores in the 1700s, when the Dutch came over. They
were just deep-fried balls of dough sometimes spiced for flavor, and called ‘oilycakes’….Captain
Hanson Gregory claimed to have been the first to put the hole in the oilycake,
having thought it up in 1847 at the age of 16 during a long sailing voyage. He
popped the middle out of the centers of dough with the lid of a pepper tin, and
invented the modern doughnut…”
[Side Note: Supposedly, Captain Gregory’s inspiration to put
a hole in oilycakes was to mitigate the drownings that followed when sailors
over-indulged in large oilycakes… Inquiring minds want to know if the sailors
became ‘drunk’ on oilycakes, stumbled around the deck, toppled overboard, and
sank like they had lead in their bellies. *shrug* Sounds fishy to me.]
But, an article on the Engines of Our Ingenuity** website
explains the invention of doughnuts in a similar fashion (without the drowning
reference):
“…article that attributes [the invention of doughnuts] to
Maine sea captain Hanson Gregory. Gregory’s ship was named Frypan, and he fed
his sailors ‘fried cakes’, made according to his mother’s recipe. A problem
with those otherwise delicious cakes was that their centers were seldom fully
cooked. In 1847, Gregory punched out the center of a cake…for a far more
uniformly cooked doughnut.”
However, since anyone could have figured out to poke a hole
in a piece of dough, deep-fry it, and slather it with a sweet concoction, an
argument can be made that John F. Blondel gets the credit for creating the
doughnut in the form we know today.
 |
Arnold Gatilao [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)]
|
Blondel was issued a patent on July 9, 1872 for ‘a new and
useful improvement’ on the doughnut cutter’. Note the word ‘improvement’, not original
invention.
His doughnut cutter was crafted from spring-loaded blocks of
wood that, when pressed, punched holes through dough. (beefed-up hole punch) This
greatly simplified, and enhanced, a doughnut seller’s productivity.
 |
| [click image to enlarge details] Patents. Improvement in doughnut-cutters. https://patents.google.com/patent/US128783A/en |
My doughnut cutter:
 |
| Kaye's hand-me-down doughnut cutter |
Cowboys in the Old West called doughnuts ‘bear sign’, and
they were a delicacy they would ride miles out of their way to enjoy. The slang
bear sign came about because these doughnuts didn’t look like the modern day
doughnuts we know. They more closely resembled a pile of bear poop (beat scat),
hence, bear sign (a sign that bears were in the area).
Here is the doughnut excerpt from my western romance, The
Gunfighter’s Woman.
“Howdy, ma’am.”
“Hello, gentlemen. I never turn away an injured or hungry
man. Help yourself to water and cool yourselves in the shade over there.”
Brenna waved toward the summer table. “But if your intentions are otherwise, I
invite you to leave now in the same healthy condition as when you arrived.”
Matt smiled when she lifted the shotgun barrel a few inches
to make her not-so-subtle point.
“Thank you, ma’am. I promise, we mean no ill toward you. I
expect you’re Mrs. Gérard?”
“Yes. What is your business?”
“We just come through Trinidad headed to Laramie, and we
offered to deliver these letters to you.” He reached inside his vest and
brought out two letters. The cowboy dismounted, handed his reins to his
partner, and walked to Brenna.
Matt crossed the yard, keeping close to the buildings, and
though neither cowboy looked toward him, Matt knew from the glances they
exchanged they were aware of his approach.
“Thank you. That was thoughtful, but also considerably out
of your way.”
“Our pleasure, and we don’t mind.” The cowboy took a
respectful step back. “To be honest, we could have been here yesterday, but
we’d heard tell you make bear sign— doughnuts—on Sunday mornings, so we waited.
And word got to us that the postmaster was looking for someone comin’ this way
who would bring letters and…” The cowboy ducked his head, turning his hat in
his hands like it was a wagon wheel rolling along.
Brenna smiled at his confession. “I do have doughnuts.
They’re still warm. I’ll bring them to the table along with coffee and milk.
Make yourselves at home.”
Matt recognized the men. “Akins. Myerson. Been a long time.”
Both men turned to him. Akins, the cowboy who’d done the
talking asked, “Caddock? Matt Caddock? Well, I’ll be damned.” He shot a
sheepish look toward Brenna. “Sorry, ma’am.” He held out his hand, and Matt
shook it. “How did you end up here? Last we heard, you’d taken an arrow
somewhere up in the high country. Also heard you hooked up with Archer.”
“You heard right on both, but I got shut of him.”
Akins pushed back the front of his hat, nodding. “I hear
what you’re sayin’. He’s runnin’ a mean game. Story is, he blew a section of
tracks down around Lamy for the payroll on the train. Waited until dark and
wasn’t ridin’ a horse anyone recognized. Looks like he got away with it.”
Myerson added, “Watch your back trail. Couple of fellas in
Trinidad said they’d heard Archer’d headed down toward Big Spring looking for
you.” He dismounted and shook Matt’s hand.
“Thanks for the warning. He and his boys worked me over down
in Maxwell a while back. I left them wishing they hadn’t.” “Well, now
that you’re shut
of him, best
stay that way. Archer
kills just for
sport, and he
likes the sound
of big
explosions.”
“That, he does. Always made me nervous that he carried a
couple of sticks of dynamite in his saddlebags, though I never was around when
he used them. I’d appreciate you not mentioning you saw me here, or anywhere
else.”
“That road runs both ways.” Matt nodded that he understood.
The men drank their fill of coffee and milk and, between
them, ate a plate full of doughnuts before riding off with more doughnuts
tied-up in an old tea towel.
***
The doughnut recipe that was handed down through the generations in my family is available on one of my Pinterest boards. Click here: Doughnuts
Available on Amazon.com
Kindle | KindleUnlimited | Print
Kindle | KindleUnlimited | Print
Here are two doughnut articles of interest:
Doughboy Center: The Story of the American Expeditionary
Forces – Doughnut! The Official Story - http://www.worldwar1.com/dbc/doughnut.htm
A Short History of Doughnuts - http://www.essortment.com/short-history-doughnuts-41711.html
Until next time,
Kaye Spencer
Kaye Spencer
As I don’t send a newsletter, consider staying in touch with me on these venues:
Amazon Author Page | BookBub | Blog | Twitter | Pinterest
References:
*Inglis-Arkell, Esther. Gizmodo. The Scandalous History and
Strange Physics of Donuts. https://io9.gizmodo.com/the-scandalous-history-and-strange-physics-of-donuts-474332506.Web.
2013.04-19.Accessed: 2019.07-06.
**Lienhard, John H. Engines of Our Ingenuity, No. 1784: A
Priority Allegory.Web. https://www.uh.edu/engines/epi1784.htm. Accessed: 2019.07-06.
Moy, Suelain. The Fiscal Times. The Hole Truth: Celebrating a
Huge Day in Doughnut History. Web. https://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2015/07/08/Hole-Truth-Celebrating-Huge-Day-Doughnut-History.2015.07-08.
Accessed: 2019.07-06.
