PB&J

A child's dream. Coming home from school to a nice peanut butter and jelly sandwich made by mom. Maybe the peanut butter is creamy. Maybe it's chunky. Maybe the peanut butterr is mixed with chocolate. Perhaps it is grape jelly or strawberry jam or raspberry preserves.

But no matter what, it tastes delicious.

Why is that? I decided to do some research on peanut butter and its history:

There are many claims about the origin of peanut butter. Africans ground peanuts into stews as early as the 15th century. The Chinese have crushed peanuts into creamy sauces for centuries. Civil War soldiers dined on 'peanut porridge.' These uses, however, bore little resemblance to peanut butter as it is known today
In 1890, an unknown St. Louis physician supposedly encouraged the owner of a food products company, George A. Bayle Jr., to process and package ground peanut paste as a nutritious protein substitute for people with poor teeth who couldn't chew meat. The physician apparently had experimented by grinding peanuts in his hand-cranked meat grinder. Bayle mechanized the process and began selling peanut butter out of barrels for about 6¢ per pound. First Patent Around the same time, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg in Battle Creek, Michigan, began experimenting with peanut butter as a vegetarian source of protein for his patients. His brother, W.K. Kellogg, was business manager of their sanitarium, the Western Health Reform Institute, but soon opened Sanitas Nut Company which supplied foods like peanut butter to local grocery stores.

The Kellogg's' patent for the "Process of Preparing Nut Meal" in1895 described "a pasty adhesive substance that is for convenience of distinction termed nut butter. "However, their peanut butter was not as tasty as peanut butter today because the peanuts were steamed, instead of roasted, prior to grinding. The Kellogg brothers turned their attention to cereals which eventually gained them worldwide recognition. Joseph Lambert, a Kellogg employee who had worked on developing food processing equipment, began selling his own hand-operated peanut butter grinders in 1896. Three years later, his wife Almeeta published the first nut cookbook, "The Complete Guide to Nut Cookery "and two years later the Lambert Food Company was organized.


In 1903, Dr. George Washington Carver began his peanut research at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. While peanut butter had

already been developed by then, Dr. Carver developed more than300 other uses for peanuts and so improved peanut horticulture that he is considered by many to be the father of the peanut industry.
Peanut Butter Goes Mainstream C.H. Sumner was the first to introduce peanut butter to the world at the Universal Exposition of 1904 in St. Louis. He sold$705.11 of the treat at his concession stand and peanut butter was on its way to becoming an American favorite!
Krema Products Company in Columbus, Ohio began selling peanut butter in 1908 ~ and is the oldest peanut butter company still in operation today. Krema's founder, Benton Black, used the slogan, "I refuse to sell outside of Ohio." This was practical at the time since peanut butter packed in barrels spoiled quickly and an interstate road system had not yet been built.

Peanut Butter As We Know It In 1922, Joseph L.Rosefield began selling a number of brands of peanut butter in California. These peanut butters were churned like butters they were smoother than the gritty peanut butters of the day. He soon received the first patent for a shelf-stable peanut butter which would stay fresh for up to a year because the oil didn't separate from the peanut butter.
One of the first companies to adopt this new process was Swift &Company for its E.K. Pond peanut butter ~ renamed Peter Pan in1928. In 1932, Rosefield had dispute with Peter Pan and began producing peanut butter under the Skippy label the following year. Rosefield created the first crunchy style peanut butter two years later by adding chopped peanuts into creamy peanut butter at the end of the manufacturing process. In 1955, Procter & Gamble entered the peanut butter business by acquiring W.T. Young Foods in Lexington, Kentucky, makers of Big Top Peanut Butter. They introduced Jif in 1958 and now operate the world's largest peanut butter plant ~ churning out 250,000 jars every day!

I never realized that peanut butter had such a history. I commend George Washington Carver. But who decided that peanut butter and jelly would taste good together?

Well, it all started with the American soldiers:
1880 - A St. Louis physician, Dr. Ambrose W. Straub, crushed peanuts into a paste for his geriatric patients with bad teeth. At the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, known as the World's Columbian Exposition, it gained exposure and popularity.
1903 - On February 14, 1903, Straub received Patent No. 721,651 for a "mill for grinding peanuts for butter." Dr. Straub encouraged the owner of a food products company, George A Bayle Jr., to process and package ground peanut paste as a nutritious protein substitute for people with poor teeth who couldn't chew meat. Bayle Food Products of St. Louis purchased all commercial rights to the physician's peanut spread and went on to become peanut butter's first American vendor.
1904 - Bayle food Products took its new peanut butter to the St. Louis World Fair. It was a big success and gained exposure and popularity after it sold out in three days at a penny a sample, earning a profit of $705.11. Soon grocers across America were selling bulk peanut butter in large wooden tubs to satisfy their customers' demands.
1920s-1930s - Commercial brands of peanut butter such as Peter Pan and Skippy were introduced.
1941-1945 - Both peanut butter and jelly were on the U.S. Military ration menus in World War II (1941-1945). It is said that the American soldiers added jelly to their peanut butter to make it more palatable. Peanut butter provided an inexpensive and high protein alternative to meat for soldiers. It was an instant hit and returning servicemen made peanut butter and jelly sales soar in the United States. Food historians haven't found any ads or other mentions of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before the 1940s.
1943 - Nationwide food rationing was instituted in the United States during World War II. Each member of the family was issued ration books, and it was the challenge of the homemaker to pool the stamps and plan the family's meals within the set limits. Margarine, butter, sugar, lard, shortening, oils and assorted fresh meats were rationed and expensive. Peanut butter was a good cheap (peanut butter sold for 24 cents a jar) alternative and a readily available source of protein. Peanut butter was not rationed.

Thank god the soldiers like peanut butter and jelly! Otherwise, what snack could I eat after school?