Doughnuts
One hundred years ago today … Doughnuts (not yet abbreviated to our current spelling of “donuts,” it seems) were a new snack for New Yorkers. Their popularity was about to explode, as new machines were being made to mass produce the pastry.
Most accounts credit Adolph Levitt with inventing mass-production of doughnuts in 1920, out of his bakery at 447 Lenox Ave. David Taylor writes, “Adolph Levitt, an enterprising refugee from czarist Russia, began selling fried doughnuts from his bakery. Hungry theater crowds pushed him to make a gadget that churned out the tasty rings faster, and he did.”
The Doughnut Machine. Courtesy University of Southern California archive.
A slightly different version of the story comes from Jan Whitaker, who writes that: “[Levitt] is often credited with inventing the first automatic doughnut machine in 1920, but in fact there were numerous machines on the market then as well as in earlier years. Doughnut making machines were popular with bakeries and lunch rooms which placed them in their windows so that people on the street could see the (cake) doughnuts being made and feel drawn to buy some.” Indeed, a cursory search for “doughnut machine” patents reveals numerous from 1920.
Adolph Levitt, courtesy University of Southern California archive.
Yet another version of the origin story comes from Jason Hanratty, who writes,
In 1920, Russian-born Adolph Levitt created the first doughnut machine in New York City. Being impressed by the troops’ fondness for the doughnut, Levitt wanted to ramp up production of doughnuts at his Harlem Bakery. As he did, he quickly found that his dislike of frying was beginning to hamper his desire to boost production. This dislike led him to design and market the first doughnut machine. He called the machine the Wonderful Almost Human Automatic Doughnut Machine. The machine would form and plop perfectly shaped rings of dough into a vat of oil, turn them at a time interval, then pushed them out when done. This machine ultimately led Levitt to create the Doughnut Corporation of America, where he could flood the market with his machine.
The “troops” that Hanratty mentions, are of course, the doughboys (nickname no relation) of WWI, returning to the States in 1919-1920. The story goes that US soldiers had discovered doughnuts in Europe, where they were a Salvation Army staple, and brought back the taste for them. The Salvation Army continued the practice in 1920 with Ellis Island immigrants.
Salvation Army at Ellis Island, 1920. Getty Images.
WRITTEN BY JONATHAN GOLDMAN, AUGUST 26, 2020.
TAGS: food, donuts, doughnuts, dessert, snack, veterans, immigrants