Eponymous Foods: All Chocolate
Stuff You Missed in History Class
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German Chocolate Cake - The Story of the Cake
There is no telling at this point who was actually first. But it does seem as though the variation on the cake to include the now familiar coconut and pecan icing did start in Texas or Oklahoma. Recipes fall in an interesting space when it comes to copyright. A mere listing of ingredients or contents or a simple set of directions is uncopyrightable.
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Both of these eponymous foods feature chocolate, but they also both feature some issues with timelines and attribution that need to be unraveled.
Research:
- Sammarco, Anthony Mitchell. “The Baker Chocolate Company: A Sweet History.” History Press. Charleston, S.C. 2009. Accessed online: https://archive.org/details/bakerchocolateco00samm/page/80/mode/2up
- “Celebrating Not-So-German Chocolate Cake.” NPR. All Things Considered. June 23, 2007. https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11331541
- Asher Edwards advertisement. Goldsboro Messenger. Nov. 18, 1878. https://www.newspapers.com/image/62317791/?terms=%22German%27s%20Chocolate%20Cake%22&match=1
- Pat’s Steak House advertisement. The Welsh Citizen. October 12, 1951. https://www.newspapers.com/image/855431677/?terms=%22German%27s%20Chocolate%20Cake%22&match=1
- “This is the Youngland Look for Fall.” Lincoln Journal Star. July 19, 1959. https://www.newspapers.com/image/312770953/?terms=%22German%27s%20Chocolate%20Cake%22&match=1
- “A Tested Recipe.” Star Tribune. Dec. 2, 1901. https://www.newspapers.com/image/180802997/?terms=%22German%20Chocolate%20Cake%22&match=1
- “Miss Florence Davis Charms Family With German Chocolate Cake Recipe.” Denton Record-Chronicle. January 27, 1952. https://www.newspapers.com/image/36794004/?terms=%22German%27s%20Chocolate%20Cake%22&match=1
- “German Sweet Chocolate Cake.” The Guthrie Daily Leader. Feb. 3, 1957. https://www.newspapers.com/image/591933621/?clipping_id=79147909&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjU5MTkzMzYyMSwiaWF0IjoxNjczNjYzMDYxLCJleHAiOjE2NzM3NDk0NjF9.1-IZfz1ipCaYbFDzYrvI4l8vbgh-yruhCMNpjLUZVe4
- “County Cook’s Corner.” Taylor Daily Press. July 24, 1955. https://www.newspapers.com/image/52547082/?terms=%22German%27s%20Chocolate%20Cake%22&match=1
- Bode, Mary Jane. “Anything, Just So Long As It Is With Chocolate.” Austin American-Statesman. Sept 4, 1958. https://www.newspapers.com/image/356073125/?terms=%22German%27s%20Chocolate%20Cake%22&match=1
- Lundeen, Kay. “Buttermilk Mystery Solved.” The Eugene Guard. August 21, 1958. https://www.newspapers.com/image/140086242/?terms=%22German%27s%20Chocolate%20Cake%22&match=1
- “German Chocolate Cake.” Chickasha Daily Express. April 28, 1957. https://www.newspapers.com/image/591919201/?terms=%22German%27s%20Chocolate%20Cake%22&match=1
- Garrison, Eudora. “Here’s That Chocolate Cake Again.” The Charlotte Observer. Oct. 10, 1958. https://www.newspapers.com/image/619939965/?terms=%22German%27s%20Chocolate%20Cake%22&match=1
- “Curried Chicken Asparagus Salad.” Cookin’ With Daisy. Irving News Record. May 10, 1956. https://www.newspapers.com/image/44445870/?terms=%22Summer%20German%20Chocolate%20Cake%22&match=1
- United States Copyright Office. “Works Not Protected by Copyright.” Circular 33. March 2021. https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ33.pdf
- “History of Pecans.” Texas A&M. https://pecankernel.tamu.edu/history-of-pecans/
- Dysard, Virginia. “German’s Cake Sweeps Country.” Sept 1, 1958. https://www.newspapers.com/image/398144745/?terms=%22German%27s%20Chocolate%20Cake%22&match=1
- “German Sweet Chocolate Cake.” The Llano News. June 6, 1957. https://www.newspapers.com/image/11305935/?terms=%22German%27s%20Chocolate%20Cake%22&match=1
- Lacy, Mary. “Favorite Recipes – Jefferson County Variety.” Waurika News-Democrat. January 31, 1957. https://www.newspapers.com/image/590019658/?terms=%22German%27s%20Chocolate%20Cake%22&match=1
- Treaster, Hazel Hogan. “Home Tested Recipes.” Oklahoma City Advertiser. January 11, 1957. https://www.newspapers.com/image/594427114/?terms=%22German%27s%20Chocolate%20Cake%22&match=1
- Byrn, Anne. “American Cake.” Rodale. 2016.
- Eschner, Kat. “Tootsie Rolls Were WWII Energy Bars.” Smithsonian. Feb. 23, 2017.
- Hirschfeld, Leo. “Process of making candy.” 1907. https://patents.google.com/patent/US903088
- “Kills Himself in Hotel.” New York Times. January 14, 1922. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1922/01/14/109830963.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
- Kawash, Samira. “Tootsie Roll Tragedy: The Real Leo Hirschfeld Story.” CandyProfessor. Jan. 4, 2014. Accessed on Wayback Machine: https://web.archive.org/web/20160319022205/http://candyprofessor.com/2014/01/04/tootsie-roll-tragedy-the-real-leo-hirschfeld-story/
- Kawash, Samira. “Candy: A Century of Panic and Pleasure.” Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 2013.
- Tootsie Roll Industries. “Company Timeline.” https://tootsie.com/interactive-timeline/
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