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Media Relations

A trip through the doughnut hole: self-reflection through a humble circle of fried dough

Few things say as much about our culture as the food we eat. A new book, Glazed America: A History of the Doughnut by Paul R. Mullins, an anthropologist in the IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI, explores the development of America's consumer culture through our relationship with the doughnut, beloved by many, a symbol of temptation and unhealthiness to others.

Sometime in prehistory, someone dropped flour into oil and the ancestor of the doughnut was born. Since that time, every

culture has fried flour and many have added something sweet to the dough.

Mullins traces the arrival of the modern doughnut to American shores to the early 18th century, when the Dutch pastry, olykoek, began to appear in New York and other cities. The first cookbook mentioning doughnuts was an 1803 English volume that included doughnuts in an appendix of American recipes. By the mid-19th century, the doughnut looked and tasted like today's doughnut and was viewed as a thoroughly American food.

"Mullins does a fine job of examining the doughnut not as a singular thing or symbol, but as a complex object that elicits many subtly different -- sometimes contradictory -- ideas about us. He grapples with the complicated social history of this particular food item not by merely examining its physical history, but by tracing the rich and complicated connections between doughnuts and people across time, space, ethnic identity and national boundaries," said Jamie C. Brandon, co-editor of Household Chores and Household Choices.

As with the automobile, automation came to the doughnut in the early 20th century. During the 1920s, machines began to make doughnuts in bulk -- producing tons and tons of fragrant doughnuts at a low cost to consumers. Unlike bagels, whose manufacture was closely controlled by unions, the mass-produced doughnut spread rapidly across the United States, becoming the staple of mom-and-pop establishments, regional outlets and national chain doughnut shops (Krispy Kreme opened in 1937 and Dunkin' Donuts in 1950).

Over the past quarter century, doughnuts have survived onslaughts from competing foods -- including the bagel and muffin -- and from anti-carbohydrate diets. The most damaging attack has come from the health community concerned about the food's contribution to the nation's rising obesity rates. Yet doughnuts remain popular, and doughnut chains are expanding.

Doughnuts have always elicited strong feelings among Americans, says Mullins. "Americans don't sit on the fence -- they either love doughnuts or they don't. You just can't say the same thing about lettuce or tomatoes or salt, all of which also have interesting cultural symbolism."

Glazed America: A History of the Doughnut is published by University Press of Florida and retails for $24.95. Mullins is an associate professor and the chair of anthropology at IUPUI. His research focuses on material culture and he also has been engaged in a long-term study of race and racism in Indianapolis' near west side.

Mullins enjoys his doughnuts at an Indianapolis mom-and-pop shop, which has been serving up the fried dough delicacies for 55 years. He is an avid runner who logs approximately 45 miles per week -- often past his favorite doughnut shop.

Read the blog and listen to an NPR interview with Mullins: http://in-lart-linux1.indysla.iupui.edu/news/index.php/speaking_of_doughnuts_mullins_appears_on_national_public_radio/

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