Common Acronyms

Here are a few names that you probably did not know they really were acronyms.

PAM (cooking spray) stands for Product of Arthur Meyerhoff.
NECCO (wafers) stands for New England Confectionery Company.
Smart Car (a collaboration between Swatch and Mercedes), is short for Swatch + Mercedes + Art.
The USA PATRIOT Act stands for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism. (a real mouthful)
TIME (magazine) stands for “The International Magazine of Events.”
CAPTCHA stands for Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart.
Arby’s is a play on RB, for the chain’s founders, the Raffel brothers.
A&W stands for its founders, (Roy) Allen and (Frank) Wright.

Nine Old Snack Foods

Marshmallows have been around since ancient Egypt, and were often used to soothe sore throats By the 19th century, French confectioners began whipping the marshmallow to the shape we know.

Pretzels are widely considered to be the world’s oldest snack food It is believed the modern pretzel’s predecessor was first made in the 6th century by an Italian monk, who used it as a treat to reward his youngest church attendees. The word “pretzel” is from the Latin word “pretzola,” which loosely translates to “little reward.”

Archeologists reporting finding popcorn ears that they can date all the way back to being snacked on some 5,600 years ago. Native Americans would throw popcorn ears right on a fire, in order to pop out kernels. ( I bought popping corn ears at Bass Pro and popped in microwave. Fun to watch the thing fill up with popcorn and spill out when the door was opened.)

Necco Wafers were first manufactured in 1847 and Oliver Chase invented a cutting machine that allowed the slices to be made so thin.

Cracker Jack most likely began in 1871 Chicago, IL when German immigrant Frederick William Rueckheim started cooking up and selling his own type of popcorn. By 1896, Cracker Jack was being produced for commercial sales.

In 1897, Pearle Bixby Wait trademarked the powdered gelatin dessert, called Jell-O.

Triscuits were first invented in 1903 in Niagara Falls, NY. Triscuits were originally larger, but shrunk down to their current size in1924.

The first Sunshine Hydrox cookie was made in 1908 and was followed by its Oreo competitor in 1912. The difference between Hydrox and Oreo is that Hydrox is a bit more crispy and less sugary, and the original Hydrox was Kosher.  Hydrox are supposed to become available again this year, but have yet to find them for sale.

What's in a Name

PAM Cooking Spray is an acronym for Product of Arthur Meyerhoff.

NECCO, as in Necco wafers is an acronym for New England Confectionery Company.

Four Fun Food Facts

NECCO Wafers - New England Confectionery COmpany.

The Quaker Oats guy's name is Larry.

Barbie’s full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts.

Kool-Aid was originally marketed as “Fruit Smack.”