I came across this intriguing bit of ephemera in a scrapbook dating to the 1930s, and I became curious about its origin. Turns out this “Optimist’s Creed” is a longstanding advertising campaign of Mayflower Donuts. It seems equally at home in the Great Depression as it does in 2020, doesn’t it? Mayflower Donuts was founded by Doughnut impresario Adolph Levitt in New York in 1931, and eventually blossomed into a chain of Mayflower Doughnut shops across the US. Levitt had previously invented an automatic doughnut fryer, which he sold to other doughnut shops around the US, eventually opening up his own Mayflower chain. Mayflower featured prominently at World’s Fairs throughout the 1930s, including Chicago in 1933-4 and New York in 1939-40, as the company tried to drum up publicity. You can see the Optimist’s Creed hung on the wall of a Chicago Mayflower shop circa 1949, from Calumet 412. Despite its former popularity, as of this writing in 2020, the Mayflower chain seems to have disappeared. If you are a fan of the Optimists’ Creed you can buy a mug or print from Vintage Menu Art.
Cleveland has a huge 
Over the years we have discovered that one of the most universally beloved foods is the fried dough ball. In the Netherlands, fried dough balls are a traditional New Year’s food called
Today is Fat Tuesday – aka Mardi Gras – which means it is 
We’ve made it to Friday – time to celebrate with donuts! This week we are featuring Vietnamese hollow donuts – Bánh Tiêu. Banh Tieu are crunchy, hollow donuts covered in sesame seeds, with a light texture. The technique is a bit harder to master than an American donut, but if you have already 
Ich bin ein bola de Berlim. Yep, this is an offshoot of the 
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Eating The World 
