In honor of National Donut Day, I thought I’d attempt to answer that age old question, what came first — the donut or the hole? Now that I think about it, maybe that wasn’t the question… maybe it was the chicken or the egg — but never mind. My extensive research didn’t turn up the answer anyway.
My extensive research did, however, uncover the fact that modern donut machinery dispenses just rings of dough, so the “holes” must be made separately.
Since donuts are simply fried dough, why are they called donuts — the basic donut doesn’t contain nuts. Apparently the original fried dough concoctions were about the size and shape of walnuts, so they were called dough-nuts.
Just about everybody likes donuts — there’s a place in Hagerstown called Krumpe’s. It’s located in the middle of a small alley — now named Donut Alley.
Supposedly cops love donuts. The story goes that when police cars became common in the 1940s and ‘50s, one of the few eateries open during grave yard shifts were donut shops that opened early to cater to the breakfast crowd. Policemen got into the habit of going there for a cup of coffee and a donut.
But one of the more famous writings about donuts came from the Optimist’s Creed — created and published more than 100 years ago in the New York Sun newspaper as follows:
“Twist optimist and pessimist
The difference is droll;
The optimist the doughnut sees –
The pessimist the hole.
A restaurant in Charleston, West Virginia revitalized the Optimist’s Creed’s wording and message in 1929 to what we’re familiar with today…
As you ramble through life, brother,
Whatever be your goal
Keep your eye upon the doughnut
And not upon the hole.
Good advice today — Happy Doughnut/Donut Day….
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