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How ‘Bacon and Eggs’ Became the American Breakfast
- rodedwards 13y agoWell, now I'm hungry.
- th0ma5 13y agoFor some reason I want to associate this with the fact that names that become generic can make you lose your trademark. I'm thinking of course of Kleenex (brand tissues) and Velcro (brand hook & loop fasteners), both of which are so synonymous with the entire category that my spell check doesn't underline them. I want to think of that as a monopoly on the concept, and if you have that, then you lose control simply because the public equates the name with the thing solely. I think this is fair as a monopoly is not welcomed generally, so it makes sense that you can have something so popular it loses its trademark and becomes a commodity in the mind. This story here however makes me want bacon now a little less, though.
- mathattack 13y agoBelieve it or not, though, bacon’s association with the American breakfast is barely a century old I'm not sure why this would be hard to believe at all. In the 1920s, Bernays was approached by the Beech-Nut Packing Company – producers of everything from pork products to the nostalgic Beech-Nut bubble gum. Beech-Nut wanted to increase consumer demand for bacon. Bernays turned to his agency’s internal doctor and asked him whether a heavier breakfast might be more beneficial for the American public. Knowing which way his bread was buttered, the doctor confirmed Bernays suspicion and wrote to five thousand of his doctors friends asking them to confirm it as well. This ‘study’ of doctors encouraging the American public to eat a heavier breakfast – namely ‘Bacon and Eggs’ – was published in major newspapers and magazines of the time to great success. Beech-Nut’s profits rose sharply thanks to Bernays and his team of medical professionals. The irony is that this is at least half right. Eating protein for breakfast is considered healthy. Perhaps there are better ways to get protein than bacon and fried eggs, but it's not completely off base.
- mef 13y agoCitation for the protein assertion?
- mathattack 13y agohttp://www.webmd.com/diet/features/many-benefits-breakfast http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/many-benefits-breakfast http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/benefits-lots-protein-morning-3574.html http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/benefits-lots-protein-mornin... http://greatist.com/health/high-protein-breakfast-benefits http://greatist.com/health/high-protein-breakfast-benefits None of this says eat bacon and eggs every day, but it is pro-protein. Sometimes I'll cook peas with eggs, or have high protein yogurt (Siggi's or Chobani) or turkey bacon rather than picking up the fat in regular bacon. Of course if my midsection would allow it, I'd have a pound of the good bacon every morning!
- dylandrop 13y ago>Before this, the majority of Americans ate more modest, often meatless breakfasts that might include fruit, a grain porridge (oat, wheat or corn meals) or a roll, and usually a cup of coffee. Pretty hard to argue that bacon is really as healthy as oatmeal & fruit. Just for reference, fried eggs have a crapload of cholesterol (http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=fried+egg http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=fried+egg) and bacon is pretty fattening and in general, not too great on cholesterol either (http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=2+strips+of+bacon http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=2+strips+of+bacon). And this doesn't even include all of the oil these things are fried in.
- liquidcool 13y agoHowever, eggs have equal amounts of good (HDL) and bad (LDL) cholesterol, so most nutritionists feel they cancel each other out and hence eggs aren't considered bad. Few are recommending bacon (although Canadian bacon is fairly lean).
- dylandrop 13y ago
- ronilan 13y agoSomewhat OT but there is this old story - a startup is just like bacon and eggs. In a startup, all employees are contributors while the founders are commited. Same as in bacon and eggs. The chickens are contributors but the pigs are commited. And the outcome? If you want the biggest share you need to be a pig. And you can only do that if you are not a chicken.
- ajlburke 13y agoYeah but what happens to the pigs in the end? Chickens are still around afterwards to lay more eggs.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- biondim 13y agoAt least as long as they still have eggs to lay. Once they run out they are tossed (as in thrown into a landfill). Net / Net, it doesn't end well for either party.
- gxs 13y agoI can't remember off the top of my head, but it's amazing how many of our american "traditions" are a result of marketing. While there is nothing inherently bad about this, it definitely gives me a sense that something is not authentic when I come to learn it was the result of a marketing campaign. This bacon and eggs breakfast is just one example. Grilled cheese and tomato soup is another. Can anyone recall any others?
- Anechoic 13y agoCan anyone recall any others? Diamonds, and the various "Hallmark" holidays come to mind.
- 404error 13y agoRudolph the red nosed reindeer was part of a marketing campaign for Montgomery Ward. http://theweek.com/article/index/237421/the-origin-story-of-rudolph-the-red-nosed-reindeer http://theweek.com/article/index/237421/the-origin-story-of-...
- teh_klev 13y ago"Grilled cheese and tomato soup" - at first I thought you were having a laugh. Then I googled. I like to think of myself as widely eaten (hence being widely sized), but that's a new one on me. I do vaguely remember in British "bistros" seeing soups topped with cheese (and sometimes with pastry) then salamandered until the bowl (or glazed pot as was the vogue back then) was so bloody hot it removed your fingerprints, and you daren't eat a mouthful until it cooled, lest it blistered your tastebuds. This was in the 70's and 80's, but never with tomato soup, usually some nasty fish bisque type of thing.
- fintler 13y agoThis appears to be a sample of one of their newspaper announcements from 1922 (today was the first time I noticed that Google has replaced the ritual of asking a librarian for microfiche rolls). http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2293&dat=19220917&id=XOZfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=OAMGAAAAIBAJ&pg=993,397169 http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2293&dat=19220917&id=X... It's interesting that there's a small part at the end where it mentions that a heavy lunch is best, but most of the article is about a heavy breakfast. It seems like a lighter breakfast would be the healthier option, but I can't seem to find any studies to back that up.
- nobodysfool 13y agoI tried to find more information about this "pie zone" but was unable. Were pies assigned to zones at that time? Just what was going on with pie in the 1920's that they had to have their own zone?
- fintler 13y agoI really have no idea, but here's my current guess. From the page at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melton_Mowbray_pork_pie#Melton_Mowbray_pork_pie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melton_Mowbray_pork_pie#Melton... Protection was granted on 4 April 2008, with the result that only pies made within a designated zone around Melton, and using the traditional recipe including uncured pork, are allowed to carry the Melton Mowbray name on their packaging So, it appears that a "pie zone" may be a "Protected designation of origin". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protected_designation_of_origin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protected_designation_of_origi... However, applying this to the context of the article barely makes sense. Perhaps the 1920s "pie zone" is what eventually evolved into the 2008 law?
- eggoa 13y agoThis is hardly the most sinister of Edward Bernays' campaigns. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torches_of_Freedom http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torches_of_Freedom
- bishun 13y agoFor those inclined to investigate the affects of psychology [theory] on modern society, and how it has been adapted both commercially and by government, I suggest checking out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Century_of_the_Self http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Century_of_the_Self Edward Louis Bernays was related to Sigmund Freud. This relationship and more is expounded upon in the above documentary, which is definitely worth watching (imho).
- diydsp 13y agoI second the Century of the Self. Also, a book was published in 2002 on Bernays . I found it extraordinarily interesting. [1] When Bernays was hired to get more books sold, he persuaded architects to design houses with bookshelves built into them. on the principle that "nature abhors a vacuum." A slick mofo indeed. [1] http://www.amazon.com/The-Father-Spin-Bernays-Relations/dp/0805067892/ref=pd_sim_b_19 http://www.amazon.com/The-Father-Spin-Bernays-Relations/dp/0...
- bobbyi_settv 13y agoThe documentary is available for free on archive.org: http://archive.org/details/TheCenturyOfTheSelf http://archive.org/details/TheCenturyOfTheSelf
- binarymax 13y agoBacon is one of the few things that I refuse to eat. I don't understand how anyone likes the stuff. It makes me wonder, if the all-American breakfast was a bowl of fruit and a glass of milk, would there have been an obesity epidemic?
- beachstartup 13y ago> I don't understand how anyone likes the stuff. i can see how someone wouldn't want to eat bacon (for a variety of reasons, health, veganism, sodium intake, religion.... lots of things), but i can't see how they "don't understand" how anyone likes bacon. it's primarily fat and salt. how is this a huge mystery to you? you REALLY don't undersatnd how a fatty, salty pork product is popular? _REALLY_?
- jl6 13y ago"I don't understand" is an idiom in which the user feigns ignorance in order to paint an opinion as so irrational that the only explanation for it being held must be some unknown mitigating factor. With the holder of the opinion typically absent, no such mitigating factor is offered, and through a kind of proof by contradiction, the user hopes to score a victory for his opposing viewpoint without having to actually come up with any arguments.
- beachstartup 13y agoyou generally don't say "i don't understand why..." for things that are obviously understandable. you usually use it for things that are inexplicably broken in some way. "i don't understand why they can't move these things 2 inches to the left" "i don't understand why the entrance to this parking garage is blocked by trash cans every tuesday" "i don't understand why they can't make this app remember your login" "i don't understand why you can't change the temperature on this thermostat" "i don't understand why anyone likes bacon" hmm.. which of these is not like the others?
- tptacek 13y agoYes. People who eat bacon and eggs for breakfast are probably demographically favored not to be obese, because they by implication have access to a grocery store and time to prepare their own food.
- Fuzzwah 13y agoOne of the most disappointing things I ran into when I moved from Australia to the US was American bacon. Oh how I miss Australian bacon: http://3hourspast.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/picture-28.png http://3hourspast.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/picture-28.png Because to me, American bacon is just the crappy bit which is attached to the awesome bit. http://www.foodsubs.com/Photos/bacon.jpg http://www.foodsubs.com/Photos/bacon.jpg
- tptacek 13y agoWhy would I want a knob of pork loin stuck to the end of my bacon?
- grecy 13y agoI'm in the same boat. Keep your eyes out for "Canadian bacon". It's not identical to Aussie bacon, but it's pretty damn close, and lots of supermarkets in the US carry it (being that it's foreign, and-all) Don't get me started on what I would do for a good meat pie, sausage roll, or fish and chips. I haven't been home in 7.5 years...
- debacle 13y agoWhere do you live that you can't get any of those things? Sausage rolls and meat pies are winter staples where I live (in the US).
- grecy 13y agoI'm in Canada, I've also lived in the US. Trust me, the sausage rolls and meat pies in North America are a very poor imitation of the ones back in Australia.
- Sargos 13y agoThat looks more like ham. Bacon is good because it's thin and (sometimes crispy) with lots of amazing fatty pieces.
- debacle 13y ago
- rdl 13y agoIt's interesting that the traditional NASA launch morning breakfast is steak and eggs -- apparently protein/fat foods don't cause gas or other GI upset in space, unlike breads, etc. http://www.who2.com/blog/2009/07/t-minus-2-days-and-counting-steak-and-eggs http://www.who2.com/blog/2009/07/t-minus-2-days-and-counting... (although this seems to be less the case now) (Which is why "steak and eggs at [the place astronauts go before launch]" is the ideal answer to "what do you want your last meal on Earth to be".)
- R_Edward 13y agoEggs don't cause gas? All I'm gonna say to that is that you do NOT want to be within 4 cubicles of my co-worker during the couple hours after he has an omelet for lunch!
- Luc 13y agoNowadays astronauts launch from Russia, where the tradition is a double enema before launch. I don't know what they have for breakfast, but I guess it doesn't matter much!
- ssttoo 13y agoWasn't the story of the orange juice the same? Overproduction + marketing as healthy = tradition (no sources, sorry, something I saw on TV)
- shn 13y agoWho said that eating pork is good and allowed to swallow in the first place. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46G_DcnKOsU&feature=youtube_gdata_player https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46G_DcnKOsU&feature=youtube_...
- riffraff 13y agowait: isn't fried pork and eggs a staple of the whole english speaking world's breakfast? Granted, back bacon is a magnitude better than streaky bacon, but it's still basically pork&salt :)
- jusben1369 13y agoDid anyone else find this article to be bizarrely written? i) To this day Dentist's applaud adding fluoride to water as a having a huge impact on reducing cavities. I know some folks don't like it being done and dispute it but this article dismisses it as though it were some bizarre fad. ii) drinking glasses were very unsanitary. Moving to paper cups wasn't the right answer; having better hygiene around washing glasses were. But he was responding to what had then become well known. That disease/flu etc would sweep through houses mostly because people shared the same drinking material and didn't clean them very well. iii) 5000 doctors agreeing that a protein driven breakfast is some sort of sham? Maybe it was but you'd want a little more proof than "And this Doctor wrote to 5000 who all agreed because.....?" This is kind of junky to be on HN homepage.
- bane 13y agoA bit of hyperbole, but having married into an East Asian household and spent lots of time traveling around the world, I'm soundly convinced that a well defined breakfast meal, with its own traditions, foods and culinary style, is one of the greatest inventions of western civilization. I have to question this article because the American breakfast is pretty much just a local variant on the traditional full breakfast [1][2] popular in the UK and Ireland -- and you find similar meals in Australia, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand...kinda what you'd expect. But as a meal, it's unbelievably awesome. Far better than some reheated fermented bean soup, a bowl of cold rice and some cold fish (which is what I get served when I visit my in-laws). Actually, the truth is, I can eat local food almost anywhere in the world for 2 meals a day, but breakfast...there's something really special about a full breakfast. Even if I can't swing a full breakfast, I can almost always cook up some eggs and eat a sweat pastry or something from a local bakery I bought the night before. 1 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_breakfast https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_breakfast 2 - http://www.englishbreakfastsociety.com/english-breakfast/history_of_the_traditonal_full_english_breakfast/ http://www.englishbreakfastsociety.com/english-breakfast/his...
- spongle 13y agoFuck yes. The best part is the full English has changed into the "all day breakfast" in the last 20 years. When some asshats blew up half of London in 2005, I had a full English breakfast (at 2pm) and two cups of tea, then walked 16 miles home and still wasn't hungry when I got in :) Can't beat it.
- 001sky 13y agoThis Article seems to ignore the (historical) fact that America is just following the footsteps of the common breakfast in all other English speaking countries (eg, UK, Ireland, Australia, etc). Which is odd.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_breakfast https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_breakfast
- bryanlarsen 13y agoIsn't the standard American breakfast a bowl of Corn Flakes? Breakfast cereal is perhaps the most heavily marketed of all grocery store foods.
- dbbolton 13y agoIf I'm not mistaken, bacon was actually a popular breakfast food long before this marketing campaign took place, and even before the US existed.
- snowwrestler 13y ago> He was the guy who was hired by the Aluminum Company of America to use the American Dental Association to convince people that water flouridation was safe and healthy to the public. This shows the downside of Wikipedia. The "source" for this claim is a conspiracy-nut anti-fluoride essay in the Rothbard-Rockwell Report. Yet it's passed by Wikipedia--and then this article--as a fact.
- vezzy-fnord 13y agoI highly recommend everyone here read Edward L. Bernays' seminal 1928 work titled Propaganda. It is absolutely key to understanding how the modern world works, and it has influenced countless propagandists since then, including Joseph Goebbels.
- rottyguy 13y agoSwine-dled!