Original photo by Food Tree Images/ Alamy Stock Photo
Some snacks are known for their distinctive shapes: Think of Pringles’ classic curve or Ruffles’ ridges. The same goes for Goldfish crackers, which were originally designed as a birthday gift for the creator’s wife, whose astrological sign, Pisces, is symbolically represented by two swimming fish. The idea came about in 1958, when Oscar J. Kambly — head of the Kambly commercial bakery in Switzerland — was looking to surprise his wife on her birthday. He instructed a technician to create a new cracker mold in the shape of a fish, then baked the first-ever Goldfish cracker that afternoon before presenting it to his beloved later that evening.
Oops, incorrect!
It's a factIn 1916, the Planters Nut & Chocolate Company held a contest to design a new mascot. The winning drawing came from 14-year-old Antonio Gentile of Suffolk, Virginia, who was awarded a $5 prize (roughly $144 today) for his sketch of a walking peanut holding a suitcase and cane.
Kambly quickly realized how popular the innovative crackers could be as a mass-produced snack food. He took the product to market under the name Goldfischli, German for “Goldfish.” Within a year, the fish-shaped crackers were being sold in 17 countries. In 1962, American businesswoman Margaret Rudkin — founder of Pepperidge Farm — was on vacation in Switzerland when she came upon Goldfish crackers for the first time. Intrigued by the product, Rudkin struck a deal to acquire the licensing rights and began producing the crackers in the United States. The snack continued to blossom into a global sensation, and Kambly introduced alternate flavors for the first time in 1983. In 1995, the name of the original product was officially changed from Goldfischli to Goldfish.
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Pop-Tarts were originally called ______.
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Pop-Tarts were originally called Fruit Scones.
Chocolate chip cookies were invented by accident.
Ruth Graves Wakefield may not be a household name, but she managed to create one of the most popular snacks of all time, and largely by accident. Wakefield was the proprietor of the Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts. One night in the late 1930s, while baking a popular Colonial-era cookie recipe for guests, she decided to experiment by adding in pieces from a block of Nestlé chocolate she had broken up with an icepick. But rather than disseminating through the dough as she’d anticipated, the chocolate remained in individual gooey chunks, much to the delight of Wakefield’s guests. She dubbed this recipe the “Chocolate Crunch Cookie,” and it became a smash hit after being advertised on an episode of the popular radio show Betty Crocker Cooking School of the Air. Wakefield later struck a deal with Nestlé to provide them with the recipe rights in exchange for a lifetime of free chocolate.
Bennett Kleinman is a New York City-based staff writer for Optimism Media, and previously contributed to television programs such as "Late Show With David Letterman" and "Impractical Jokers." Bennett is also a devoted New York Yankees and New Jersey Devils fan, and thinks plain seltzer is the best drink ever invented.
