A Brief History of Chocolate Covered Anything Day
As with most of our current holidays, the origins of National Chocolate Covered Anything Day reach back to pagan harvest festivals…
NOT.
Actually the illustrious history of this gluttonous holiday dates back to the mid-1800’s. In the cold north of Minnesota, Swedish colonizers were rushing to settle in America after the Homestead Act of 1862. The ever innovative Swedes (remember these are the guys who invented the Swiss Army Knife… I think they may have even invented the Swiss Army!) had discovered a method for covering anything in chocolate that today we know as chocolate fondue. The settlers of Minnesota were anxious to keep this fattening tradition alive, so a small chocolate shop named Här är Chokladöverdragna Något in the small Minnesotan town of Lindstrom decided they must celebrate a holiday dedicated to food, prior to Christmas arriving. Since Thanksgiving was nationalized in 1863, it was not yet common place to celebrate Thanksgiving, and likely the Swedish settlers of Lindstrom were completely unaware of the mammoth holiday that would eventually shape as America’s pre-Christmas food devoted celebration.
So it was that in a small town in Minnesota the first Chocolate Covered Anything was celebrated, marked by numerous concoctions like chocolate dipped ham strips (eventually to become the modern-day chocolate covered bacon phenomenon), chocolate covered pine cones, chocolate covered meatballs, and of course, chocolate covered Swedes (still a favorite the world over). It is now our duty to remind the country of this OTHER national pre-Christmas food holiday. Go forth and cover the world in chocolate.
NOT.
Actually the illustrious history of this gluttonous holiday dates back to the mid-1800’s. In the cold north of Minnesota, Swedish colonizers were rushing to settle in America after the Homestead Act of 1862. The ever innovative Swedes (remember these are the guys who invented the Swiss Army Knife… I think they may have even invented the Swiss Army!) had discovered a method for covering anything in chocolate that today we know as chocolate fondue. The settlers of Minnesota were anxious to keep this fattening tradition alive, so a small chocolate shop named Här är Chokladöverdragna Något in the small Minnesotan town of Lindstrom decided they must celebrate a holiday dedicated to food, prior to Christmas arriving. Since Thanksgiving was nationalized in 1863, it was not yet common place to celebrate Thanksgiving, and likely the Swedish settlers of Lindstrom were completely unaware of the mammoth holiday that would eventually shape as America’s pre-Christmas food devoted celebration.
So it was that in a small town in Minnesota the first Chocolate Covered Anything was celebrated, marked by numerous concoctions like chocolate dipped ham strips (eventually to become the modern-day chocolate covered bacon phenomenon), chocolate covered pine cones, chocolate covered meatballs, and of course, chocolate covered Swedes (still a favorite the world over). It is now our duty to remind the country of this OTHER national pre-Christmas food holiday. Go forth and cover the world in chocolate.
