|
NEWS |
|
How a Little Groundnut Became Famous Excerpt from June 2001 newsletter Patsy Flanigan
"Take me out to the ball game, take me out with the crowd. Buy me some peanuts and …." We all know this old song. It's about as Americana as you can get. How did that happen? How did peanuts become so closely associated with the favorite American pastime?
Simply put, the answer is availability. Peanuts have been around for a long time. Early records show that they were found as early as 950 BC in South America. Explorers and missionaries took them to Africa and later they came on slave ships from Africa to North America. Improved methods of growing and harvesting made them an economically viable commercial crop in the United States by around 1900.
Hundreds of ways of using peanuts were developed even before World War I. Homemade peanut butter was a popular item as small devices appeared on the market enabling women to make peanut butter in their own homes. It was after World War I that commercial production of peanut butter was developed.
Being highly nutritious, an important source of protein, the peanut was one of the strategic crops grown for the War Effort in World War II. By now the peanut butter sandwich had become a staple, and roasted and salted peanuts were a favorite snack.
So the peanut was in the right place at the right time. As time went on, even more improvements were made in growing, harvesting and production of peanuts, so the peanut was not only available, and popular for its taste, but it was also inexpensive.
The "lowly" peanut became an icon for cheap. A cartoon shows two peanuts sitting at a table. One is wearing a top hat etc. The other is very plain. The caption reads, "Well, you are not a macadamia, yourself". Interesting how our foods take on an aura of elegance, or as in the case of the peanut, they may just have an everyday loveability.
It was in the early 70's that Flanigan Farms began selling our classic peanut trail mix. We had it trademarked, "Nuts 'N' Things". Starting slowly, we have now sold many millions of packages of Southern California’s favorite trail mix. |
