Tuesday, June 8, 2010

National Donut Day....


As we just launched after the our namesake baked good had its national holiday we thought it only prudent to give a tribute and investigate a little more about this glorious event. Thank you Wikipedia!

National Doughnut Day began in 1938 as a fund raiser for the Chicago Salvation Army. The goal was to help the needy during the Great Depression , and to honor the Salvation Army "Lassies" of World War I, who served doughnuts to soldiers. Soon after the US entrance into World War I, the Salvation Army sent a fact-finding mission to France. The mission concluded that "huts" that could serve baked goods, provide writing supplies and stamps, and provide a clothes-mending service, to serve the needs of US enlisted men. About 250 Salvation Army volunteers went to France. Because of the difficulties of providing freshly-baked goods from these "huts" established in abandoned buildings near to the front lines, two Salvation Army volunteers (Ensign Margaret Sheldon and Adjutant Helen Purviance) came up with the idea of providing doughnuts. These are reported to have been an "instant hit", and "soon many soldiers were visiting Salvation Army huts". Margaret Sheldon wrote of one busy day "Today I made 22 pies, 300 doughnuts, 700 cups of coffee."
A legend has spread that the provision of doughnuts to US enlisted men in World War I is the origin of the term doughboy to describe US infantry.To this day it is still a fund raiser run by The Salvation Army.