History of peanut butter

About 3000 BC the people of Brazil and the Caribbean plated the peanut. At that times the Indians ground peanuts into a sticky paste.

Peanuts were grown by the Incas in Peru around 950 BC.  They made their ways from South America to Africa and then onward to Spain before finding their way to the American colonies. During 900 BC South American mixed ground peanuts and cocoa.

Butter was invented by Aztecs in the first century AD. Although roasted peanuts have been ground into a paste and mixed with honey and cocoa in South America for centuries, peanut butter as a North American food was apparently invented independently.

Originally, peanut butter was made from a combination of Spanish (whose high percentage of oil makes it especially flavorful) and Virginia peanuts.

The making of peanut butter was largely a local hit or miss operation until the Peanut Butter Manufacturers Association was organized about 1940.

In 1901, inventors F. V Mills and H. S Mills devised a machine that dispensed roasted peanuts for a penny. Peanut butter was dispensed from large open vats in grocery stores; then until World War II, it was sold in tins.
History of peanut butter

History of peanut butter in United States

Due to its popularity, half the United States peanut crop ends up as peanut butter. Although the Aztecs invented peanut butter in the first century AD, they received no credits for this achievement. Originally, peanut butter was made from a combination of Spanish and Virginia peanuts.

On of the first places peanut butter was made was the Western Health Reform Institute in Battle Creek, Michigan, run by the Kellogg brothers of cereal fame. In the early 1890s Kellogg crushed various nuts between two rollers and claimed the results to be ‘nut butters’.

To commercialize his discovery, Kellogg created the Sanitas Nut Food Company and placed his brother, Will Kellogg in charge.

It has been a favorite kitchen staple in American homes ever since the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, where it was first introduced. During the World Fair, concession stands sold it for one penny per serving.

At first, peanut butter was dispensed from large open vats in grocery store: then, until World War II it was sold in tins.

During the 20th century it was reserved mainly for sandwiches, confections and the occasional roving finger or spoon.

Peanut butter sandwiches moved down the class structure as the price of peanut butter declined, owing to the commercialization of the industry. However, during the Depression, low cost sandwich spread became one of the top luncheon times.

In 2002 alone, Americans ate hundreds of millions of pounds of peanut butter, more than several pounds per person. Jiff was the leading peanut butter at that time and Skippy ranked second.
History of peanut butter in United States