The Fluffernutter sandwich, the iconic New England treat, was first conceived of way back in 1918. The recipe consisting of marshmallow crème and peanut butter slathered between two pieces of bread was listed in a recipe booklet under the name “Liberty Sandwich.”
In 1960, Durkee-Mower Inc., makers of Marshmallow Fluff, coined and patented the Fluffernutter name. The Fluffernutter sandwich is best known in New England due to the fact that Marshmallow Fluff is manufactured in Lynn, Massachusetts. Durkee-Mower churns out 9 million pound of the confection every year, with over half of it sold in the New England area.
Low and behold, the name Fluffernutter was finally allowed into the Merriam-Webster Dictionary in October of this year, 61 years after its inception. I would have thought that the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, with its New England roots under its founder, Noah Webster Jr., born in 1758 in Hartford, Connecticut, would have succumbed to accepting the name Fluffernutter long ago. Sixty-one years is a long time not to be recognized for your fame of being an iconic name that has been a lunchbox staple for nigh on seven decades. As the dictionary-snubbed Fluffernutter waited in the wings to become an officially recognized English word, it must have been thinking, “Enough already! What am I, chopped liver?”
Hey, it isn’t as if Fluffernutter was placing illegal bets on itself or its team like “Charlie Hustle” of baseball fame. Well, maybe the term “fame” is a bit too positive when referring to the aura surrounding Pete Rose. It was 30 years ago, in 1991, that Pete Rose was permanently blackballed from entering the Baseball Hall of Fame after being accused of betting on baseball. In 1963, Pete was nominated as rookie of the year of the MLB, a mere three years after the christening of the Fluffernutter. Its almost as though Pete Rose’s popularity and accomplishments rose and mirrored the Fluffernutter sandwich in its fame and glory. “Charlie Hustle” garnered 4,256 hits in his MLB career, besting even the great Ty Cobb who is second with 4,191. Rose was a 17-time All Star, won the National League batting title three times, won two Gold Gloves, and was named the World Series MVP in 1975.
Pete Rose, while manager of the Cincinnati Reds, made the dire mistake of betting on his team. He claims that he always bet on his team to win, which from a standpoint of fair play doesn’t seem all that bad. The problem with betting as a participant on the field of play is that if you start to lose games along with losing money, you might try to recoup your betting loses by betting on your team to lose. As manager of the team, you could make decisions to help your team lose which would increase your chances of winning your bet. So, Pete Rose will not rise to the highest echelons of baseball fame but will instead languish on the sidelines like a soggy tuna fish sandwich forgotten in the bottom of a lunch bag.
The Fluffernutter, on the other hand, patiently waited and comforted many children through the decades. Yes, the ignoble sandwich, although popular with the fans, was not considered to be an actual, viable word despite its lunchbox fame. The Fluffernutter was bent on total extinction within the last 20 years as it was nearly outlawed in the state of Massachusetts for having no nutritional value. Oh, the humanity! Luckily for the Fluffernutter, these attempts at total banishment into the outer darkness of sandwichdom by the Massachusetts state legislature failed, miserably.
Heralded as the most iconic lunchbox snack of all time, the Fluffernutter has risen to heights, unknown to any other option. How does the tuna sandwich or the pimento loaf sandwich rank among the schoolchildren’s array of choices as compared to the lofty peanut butter/fluff combo? Ask any child. And no, I am not proposing that these sweet treats should be eaten on a regular basis. Perhaps once a week or twice monthly. All things in moderation and some things not at all, such as making bets on baseball while being a participant, thereof.
David Kittredge is a regular contributor to the Eagle Times. You can send comments to him via the editor at [email protected].
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