Ready for S'more?

Hey, Dessert Devourers!

The campfire craving that has everybody asking for “some more”, these gooey dessert sandwiches consist of chocolate, marshmallow, and graham cracker. Today is National S’more Day. S’mores, though they weren’t always known as such, are the traditional campfire treat that have been around for roughly a century. Celebrate National S’mores Day with us at Everything Summer Camp by learning the histories behind each S’more ingredient.

Sylvester Graham was the Presbyterian minister who is responsible for inventing the graham cracker in 1829. The first Graham Cracker, made in Bound Brook, New Jersey, didn’t taste quite the same as the cinnamon/sugar cracker we know and love today. Sylvester prided himself on his health. He’s known somewhat as the original vegetarian and was trying to make a wholesome snack with his cracker. It used to be a lot more bland and dry. They were a lot healthier than the slightly sweet snack you buy in the stores today.

Born in the late 1850s, a teen-age Milton S. Hershey was bored with his printing apprenticeship that his father helped him find so he was quick to leave when he discovered a confectioner who taught him how to make marvelous candy! By the time Milton was just 19 years old, he opened up a candy shop, but he sold it just six years down the road. In the year 1900, he finally began manufacturing Milk Chocolate Bars under the name Hershey’s and grew it into one of the largest chocolate manufacturers in the world!

Ever wonder why marshmallows are called marshmallows? With surprisingly the longest history, the name comes from the Althaea Officinalis plant which is a member of the ‘mallow’ family and likes to grow in marshes. Ya get it? This plant is no longer found in marshmallows, but the sticky contents of the plant’s root used to be the key ingredient. In Ancient Egypt, they’d use it as a cure for sore throats. They’d cover it in honey and nuts for a sweet treat as well! In the 1800s, French candy makers combined the plant root contents with sugar and beaten egg whites and created a sweet paste—the forerunner to the now-artificial, cylindrical, and jet-puffed treat we find today. 

Appreciate your S’mores today with a deeper knowledge of the ingredients that make up this delicious dessert sandwich and, as always, thanks for reading. Now go roast some ‘mallows and smoosh your S’mores together!

- John