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On April 2nd each year, National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day celebrates a classic food favorite. The average American will have eaten over 2000 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches by the time they graduate from high school.
Peanut butter was considered a delicacy in the early 1900s and was only served in New York City’s finest tea rooms. In a May 1896 article published in the Good Housekeeping magazine, a recipe “urged homemakers to use a meat grinder to make peanut butter and spread the result on bread.” That same year, in June, the culinary magazine Table Talk, published a “peanut butter sandwich recipe.” (Info from here)
Who Invented the Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich?
The Earl of Sandwich is credited with inventing the sandwich because he wanted to eat his meal with one hand during a 24-hour gambling event and instructed his servant to put his meat between two slices of bread. But what many may not know, is how an American classic sandwich—the iconic peanut butter and jelly sandwich—came to be. If the Earl of Sandwich invented the sandwich, who invented the PB&J?
The story begins with the three essentials parts of the PB&J—peanut butter, jelly and bread. First, let’s start with the bread, which is, of course, an ancient food that has been around for tens of thousands of years.
The significance of the bread component in the PB&J sandwich is the invention of pre-sliced bread in the early 1900s. Otto Frederick Rohwedder invented a bread slicer but bakers were not interested because they thought no one would want their bread pre-sliced. Rohwedder kept refining his invention and changing things until it was ready to use in bakeries. He advertised the machine as “the greatest step forward in baking since bread was wrapped.” Later, the slogan evolved into “the greatest thing since sliced bread.”
Sliced bread proliferated. Soon people were looking for spreads to use with this newfound wonder food.
Next, let’s look at jelly; which is another food that has been around for a long time. In the case of the quintessential American PB&J sandwich, the most important person in this part of the story is a man named Paul Welch. In 1917, Welch secured a patent for pureeing grapes and turning them into jelly. He developed and advertised Grapelade (rhymes with marmalade) from Concord grapes—this was popular with America’s troops in WWI. When soldiers came home after the war, it was popular to spread Grapelade on bread.
Finally, there’s the peanut butter. Contrary to popular belief, peanut butter was not invented by Dr. George Washington Carver. But he is crediting with advancing the peanut crop in the South in the early 1900s and published his “300 Uses for Peanuts,” which included a peanut paste.
The forerunner of the peanut butter we know today was first brought to light sometime during the 1880s when a St. Louis physician, Dr. Ambrose Straub, made a peanut paste for geriatric patients who had trouble swallowing, or had bad teeth. Around the same time, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg (same as the cereal) was the first to patent a process for manufacturing peanut butter. Peanut butter was first introduced at the 1893 Chicago World Fair. In 1904 Dr. Straub got a food company to develop the peanut spread and they took it to the St. Louis World Fair where it became so popular, grocery stores began ordering it.
Around the same time, peanut butter appeared in upscale tea rooms in New York City and was considered a delicacy. On the menu of Vanity Fair Tea Room was peanut butter with watercress. Other tea rooms featured peanut butter and pimento sandwich and peanut butter on toast triangles with soda crackers.
In 1901, the first peanut butter and jelly sandwich recipe appeared in the Boston Cooking School Magazine of Culinary Science and Domestic Economics written by Julia Davis Chandler. She said to use currant or crab-apple jelly and called the combination delicious and as far as she knew, original.
Still, the peanut butter and jelly sandwich was an exclusive food, and its popularity among the masses was yet to come. As Grapelade and pre-sliced bread became popular, another breakthrough happened with peanut butter—commercial brands found a way to create creamier peanut butter that didn’t stick to the roof of the mouth so easily. And during the Great Depression of the 1930s, families discovered peanut butter provided a satisfying, high protein, less expensive meal.
But the major event that took the peanut butter and jelly sandwich over the top in popularity was WWII.
Peanut butter and jelly were on the U.S. Military ration menus in World War II. Peanut butter was a high-protein, shelf-stable ingredient and easily portable on long marches. Grapelade had already accompanied soldiers in the first world war and added a sweetness to the sandwich. With pre-sliced bread so easy to use, the natural inclination was to combine these three items, and before long the good ol’ PB&J was a part of the American soldier’s life.
When soldiers came home from the war, peanut butter and jelly sales soared. Kids loved it because it tastes great, parents loved how easy it was to make and how kids could make it themselves with pre-sliced bread. Many families and college students on a budget relied on PB&J.
You can read more here.
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Today, April 3 is NATIONAL FIND A RAINBOW DAY!
Rainbows are a beautiful phenomenon that bear significance across different religions and cultures. Rainbows usually occur after a storm or rain shower, and they are the result of refracted sunlight hitting raindrops. This produces the optical appearance that is a rainbow. While the sun often shines after a rain shower, conditions are not always perfect to produce the appearance of a rainbow. For this reason, rainbows are considered special across many religions and cultures.
Religious and Cultural Significance
Because of their rarity, rainbows hold significance in many religions and cultures. In Christianity, a rainbow was seen after the Great Flood was set upon the Earth by God to cleanse sin and evil from the world. It is believed that the appearance of a rainbow after a storm is a sign that God will not destroy the world again by flood. There is also mention of a rainbow in the book of Revelations which uses the rainbow as a sign of the second coming of Jesus Christ.
Throughout Native American culture, the meaning and significance of rainbows varies depending upon the tribe. Some tribes believed that rainbows were the bridge between the spiritual and human world. This is sometimes referred as the “Rainbow Bridge”. Other tribes believed that rainbows were a symbol of healing goddesses. The Cherokee Indians believed that rainbows were a representation of the hem of the Sun god’s coat. Mayan Indians held a similar belief to Christians in regards to rainbows as they believed that after their world was destroyed by fire rain the appearance of a rainbow meant that the gods were no longer angry.
There are some cultures/religions that believe the rainbow represents the elements or the directions of the Earth. In Islam, rainbows only consist of four colors-blue, green, red and yellow-which correspond with the four elements water, earth, fire and air. The Buddhists believed that the seven colors of the rainbow represent the seven continents of the Earth. The ancient Arabians attributed the appearance of a rainbow as a gift from the south wind.
In many cultures, rainbows were a sign of luck or a gift from the gods. As many know, in Irish culture, a rainbow is synonymous with elusive pots of gold and leprechauns. Poland also shares the same belief with Ireland about the pots of gold at the end of the rainbow. However, in Polish culture the pots of gold are a gift from angels.
In many cultures, rainbows are a sign of pathways, messages or messengers. In Roman culture, rainbows were believed to be the pathway taken by Mercury the messenger god. In Norse tradition, rainbows became the pathway or bridge that only celebrated fallen warriors, royalty or gods could cross.
While many religions and cultures view rainbows positively, there are some instances were rainbows are seen as negative symbols. In many of these cultures, rainbows were associated with dark spirits or demons. In both Honduras and Nicaragua, people believed that rainbows were a sign of the devil, and it if they looked at a rainbow a curse would be placed on them. In Amazonian culture, rainbows are associated with less desirable spirits that cause miscarriages and skin disorders.
You can read more here.
Please share some rainbow trivia for today's holiday!
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Do you know that I like to create character stories? Just posted two new stories today. Check them out!
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Did you know that April 14 has many national trivia days? Tomorrow I will be posting information on just a few of the 16 national days for April 14.
NATIONAL DOLPHIN DAY
International Moment of Laughter Day
NATIONAL PECAN DAY
LOOK UP AT THE SKY DAY
If you love trivia please feel free to gather some information and post them here tomorrow.
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Each year on April 14th, National Dolphin Day recognizes the social and intelligent mammals of the water. Dolphins are cetacean mammals that are related to whales and porpoises. They range in size from 4 feet to up to 30 feet; dolphins are among almost forty species in 17 genera. Found worldwide, they prefer the shallower seas of the continental shelves. As carnivores, their diet consists of mostly fish and squid.
Male dolphin – bull
Female dolphin – cow
Young dolphin – calf
Group of dolphins – school or pod
Social, Swift, and Intelligent
Dolphins are known to have acute eyesight both in and out of the water. They also have a well-developed sense of touch, with free nerve endings densely packed in the skin. Since they additionally have such acute hearing, they can hear frequencies ten times or more above the upper limit of what adult humans can. Dolphins are also capable of making a broad range of sounds using nasal air sacs located just below the blowhole.
Living in pods of up to a dozen dolphins, they are highly social animals. Pods do merge in areas where there is an abundance of food, forming superpods. These pods may exceed 1,000 dolphins. Dolphins can, and do, establish strong bonds within their pods. Even when one is injured or ill, they will stay, helping them to breathe by bringing them to the surface if needed.
You will see the dolphins frequently leaping above the water’s surface. They do this for various reasons; when traveling, jumping saves them energy as there is less friction while in the air. Their leaps even have a name called porpoising. Some other explanations for leaping include orientation, social display, fighting, non-verbal communication, entertainment and attempting to dislodge parasites.
The United States National Marine Mammal Foundation conducted a study revealing that dolphins, like humans, develop a natural form of type 2 diabetes. This discovery may lead to a better understanding of the disease and new treatments for both humans and dolphins.
HOW TO OBSERVE #NationalDolphinDay
Learn more about dolphins, their habitats and how they live. Watch a documentary about dolphins. Share your knowledge about dolphins with others, too! Download and print the Dolphin Day coloring page. Use #NationalDolphinDay to post on social media. (Info here)
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Today is International Moment of Laughter Day
The unofficial holiday, created by humorologist Izzy Gesell, encourages people to forget the stresses of daily life and give into the healing and relaxing power of laughter. Medical studies have shown that laughing reduces stress, increases blood flow, and lowers blood sugar levels. Some studies have found that people who laugh just before going to bed are much more likely to sleep better than those who did not. In addition to its health benefits, laughter also has social advantages. People who are jovial tend to be quickly accepted in social groups and have an easier time making friends. Laughter is a way to spread joy and happiness and bring cheer in the lives of other people.
How to Celebrate?
Take a moment in the day to read or watch something that would make you laugh. Go with family and friends to watch a comedy show or comedy movie. Collect jokes and share them with colleagues, friends, and family.
Did You Know…
…that human laughter has a specific acoustic structure? Laughter can have a ha-ha-ha or ho-ho-ho structure, but it is humanly impossible to have a ha-ho-ha-ho structure to laughter. (Info here)
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Each year, National Pecan Day on April 14th celebrates one nut native to the United States. It’s also a favorite snack and ingredient across the country. A member of the hickory family, the pecan is native to central and southern United States. “Pecan” is an Algonquian word, meaning a nut requiring a stone to crack. They are an excellent source of copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, zinc and vitamin E. Pecans can help reduce LDL cholesterol and increase HDL cholesterol levels in the blood. They are also rich in dietary fiber.
Pecans make great snacks all on their own, but they also make terrific garnishes to other foods such as desserts, salads or the main meal. Sweet or savory, pecans can add a little glamor to a dish or be the star of the show.
HOW TO OBSERVE #NationalPecanDay
Enjoy your favorite pecan recipes. There are so many to choose from, too! You can snack on roasted pecans or you can make baked goods such as pies or cookies. Top them on your salad. How will you use pecans to celebrate? We even have a couple of delicious recipes for you to try, too! Pecan Snack and Sugar Coated Pecans (Info here)
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On April 14, Look Up At The Sky Day encourages us to admire the beauty above us. On this day we all hope for good weather and an opportunity to fill our eyes with the sky from horizon to horizon.
There are many things that you can see as you sit back, relax and look up. The sky’s beautiful blue color, the clouds, and their many shapes. Perhaps the sun (maybe peeking through the clouds), and many different birds flying around captures our attention. At night, the skies many stars, the moon, and even the clouds drifting across the sky.
HOW TO OBSERVE #LookUpAtTheSkyDay
Spend time watching the clouds. Note the different shapes and how they move. At night, investigate the stars. Search the heavens for constellations, planets and the Milkyway. Watch for a meteor shower or a single falling star. Over the horizon, an aurora borealis might begin to dance bringing on a beautiful show. While you’re looking up at the sky, play a game or two. Download and print off the Sky Bingo game we created and see if you can find any of these things in the sky. Let us know if you win, too!
HISTORY OF LOOK UP AT THE SKY DAY
National Day Calendar believes Look Up At The Sky Day was created in honor of Jack Borden, founder of For Spacious Skies. However, we need more information, and we look to our followers to obtain it.
For generations, Jack Borden inspired children and adults to look up and admire the beauty above us. He continues to do so. In 1987, For Spacious Skies Day was proclaimed in Massachusetts on May 18th thanks to Jack Borden’s efforts. The story reported by Charles Kuralt below gives a detailed view of the impact Mr. Borden has had over the years. (Info here)
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Have you heard that I created 3 new stories? Check them out!
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Congratulations! You've found the fourth clue!
This flower represents sweetness, humility, and returning happiness. This plant is grown widely throughout North America, but it enjoys cult-like status in Europe where it’s considered one of the main harbingers of spring. It is a favorite flower in the bouquets of royal brides with its large leaves that surround stems covered with tiny, bell-shaped, white flowers. It is often called the mayflower as a symbol for the month of May.
This flower is ________________.
Remember, the answer is a single word, and is included in the story What is May Day.
Post your answer to this clue below, using the spoiler feature. Keep track of your answers because you’ll use all of them at the end of the scavenger hunt to find the FINAL answer. The last post will tell you what to do with your answers and where to post your FINAL answer.
Select the paragraph symbol, then the quote, and then the Spoiler.
The fifth clue is posted in a different game community.
HINT FOR THE FIFTH CLUE:
Did you know? There is a nocturnal mammal in this community that is a THIEF? (Use the HINT and the image below to find the game community where the fifth clue is hidden.)
If you are having trouble figuring out where the next clue is located, you can use this hyperlink to go to it.
