Graham Crackers – What’s up with them?
There’s nothing quite like a graham cracker crust with your key lime pie or your cheesecake, is there? And what would s’mores be without ’em?
So who was this Graham person, and why did he invent this cracker/cookie hybrid? It turns out there’s a fabulous story behind him, best told at The Straight Dope. Sylvester Graham (1794-1851) was an American dietitian who started a movement to get people to eat healthy foods– an early Gwyneth Paltrow, if you will. He advocated lots of good stuff you can totally get behind: eating whole grains and vegetables, brushing your teeth and bathing daily, getting lots of exercise, and sleeping 7 hours a night. Unfortunately, he also forbade alcohol, spices (including salt & pepper), sugar, fat, and meat. And so it was through this “Graham Diet†that the idea for graham crackers came about, as they’re supposed to be bland little healthy snacks that are made with whole wheat flour. In his day, people thought white flour was the flour of refinement, and that only poor people ate coarsely ground whole wheat flour, so Graham had a tough time convincing them otherwise. Now, before you think he was a bastion of good sense (albeit a bit puritanical), I must inform you that one of his main reasons for promoting this healthy lifestyle was to stave off the evils of what he called “the self-abuse,†aka masturbation. He believed that sexual exertions led to all kinds of nasty things, like blindness, epilepsy, indigestion, and insanity. Through lots of cold baths and bland food, one could keep these impulses at bay. The guy ended up having quite a bit of influence, most notably on Harvey Kellogg of Kellogg’s (Super-Bland) Cornflakes fame. Also, Americans do shower a lot.
In 1898, Nabisco was able to successfully market graham crackers, adding honey to the recipe in 1925, and continuing to change it until we’ve got the common graham cracker of today: full of refined flour, sugar, fat, and chemicals– exactly what Graham railed against. If you’re on the hunt for more of an old-school graham cracker, look for Health Valley brand. It’s sure to curb your sexual appetite.
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