August 4
National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day!
Chocolate chip cookies were invented by Ruth Graves Wakefield and Sue Brides in 1938. Ruth owned the Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts, which is why they are called Toll House Cookies. During World War II, Massachusetts soldiers received them in care packages, and soon soldiers from all over the country were asking their families to send them some. Ruth was inundated with recipe requests from across America. Today, chocolate chip cookies are quintessentially American. In Europe, chocolate chips are sold in the exotic, American section of grocery stores, alongside brown sugar, marshmallows and root beer. World War I and World War II were important for many reasons, but they played a major social and cultural role, as well. Describe some other unintended consequences of events, inventions, or new technology on Americans (examples might include the telegraph, automobile, the Civil War, the Civil Rights Movement, the Draft protests of the Vietnam War).
Questions:
- What was the unintended consequence of creating cookies during wartime?
- There has not been a world war of the same scale since WWII. What role do you think trade plays in avoiding large scale wars?