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TheDeliciousLife [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
The first reference to Pumpkin Spice can be traced back to 1796. Amelia Simmons published her book, "American Cookery" that year. It is considered the nation's first cookbook. In that book she included a recipe for pumpkin pudding. This is a pie made with stewed pumpkin and spiced with ginger and nutmeg.
When Americans moved to urban areas during the Industrial Revolution, pumpkin pie and the spices used in it became an essential slice of Americana.
In her book, "Pumpkin: The Curious History of An American Icon", Cindy Ott, writes that "It (pumpkin) represents a sense of goodness, natural abundance and old values that people think are good."
That is why pumpkin spice has become so popular today. There are pumpkin spice lattes, doughnuts, pancakes, candy and even pizza and beer. Dunkin' Donuts has iced pumpkin lattes and pumpkin donuts and muffins. Breweries from Dogfish to Coors are infusing pumpkin spice in their beers. Chains like Einstein Bros. Bagels are selling pumpkin flavored bagels and shmear. When you are in the supermarket be prepared for an onslaughter of pumpkin spice with cookies, M&M's, marshmallows, granola bars, peanut butter and even pumpkin spice flavored almonds, Pop Tarts and pancake mix.
The pumpkin season starts earlier every year. Both Starbucks and Panera announced in August that their pumpkin spiced lattes would include actual pumpkin.
The pumpkin spice blends have been a mainstay of spice cabinets for decades. McCormick introduced a pumpkin pie spice blend in 1934. It contained cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice; the same ingredients used to make pumpkin pies of long ago. This blend of spices has been know for a happy blending of these spices and so necessary in making pumpkin pies, pumpkin puddings and other pumpkin desserts to fulfill the American public's ideal or taste.
Growth in pumpkin flavored products has steadily risen over the last decade. It gives us that getting ready for fall and easing into the time of year and the brisk weather and change in fruits and vegetables. It's a remembering a time when we had it in the past.
It seems Americans yearn for a seemingly lost connection with nature, and people in today's fast paced , and technology driven society associate pumpkin with the same feelings of prosperity, home and family. It is an uniquely American nostalgia. No other country in the world consumes pumpkin as a seasonal food and beverage as America does.
Americans root themselves in the tradition of pumpkin. When times feel uncertain, as they surely do now, we can turn to these things for a sense of comfort and goodness.
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