Status Updates From Glazed America: A History o...

Donut shops as GOP bastions. Majority of their political $ donations go to GOP, and they tend to lean Republican. Contrast to Starbucks, the preferred shop of (bourgeois) liberals. Critic labeled doughnuts as a "peculiarly Republican trash food."

Marketing. Cops and donuts. Role of shops as hangouts, especially for minors who can't drink.

A bit of the history of Cambodian immigrants to the U.S. (who were fleeing Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge), many of whom chose doughnut shops as their way to make a good living, even when they disliked donuts per se. Interesting.

"Much of the attack on doughnuts also at least unintentionally vilifies the things many people most cherish about doughnuts, such as their local doughnut shop's place in the community and the meaningful relationships people forge over doughnuts." Book reminds me of some passages from _America Eats!_ about the WPA documenting food and communities.

". . . for many people, doughnuts evoke fond memories of family breakfasts, community gatherings, and local, independent and chain bakeries alike. Many churches, for instance, have long featured doughnuts in communal gatherings, and many schools hold 'Doughnuts with Dad' programs at which fathers and their children bond over bakery confections."

Finished the intro and into the first chapter. The book is setting up to be a social history of the doughnut. It seems the doughnut, nowadays mostly maligned, does have some things to tell us about American society. The donut shop as a social space as well as how society has changed over time to be explored as well. Promising book so far.

I think the description of "Dads & Donuts" days at public schools is more an indictment of modern parenting than modern consumption. Good lord. My mind reels.

Just finished up an interesting examination of the donut in Canadian culture. I always suspected that the Church of Tim Horton's was a construct of marketing and not true Canadiana.

Uh-oh. This is starting off VERY dry. I was looking for a scholarly but quirky read and this is definitely the former. Not so much the latter.

Hoping to finish this week. I'm glad the dust jacket isn't still on this library book! :)

There's a Krispy Kreme in Harrod's?!

Read about how recipes for doughnuts showed up in early American cookbooks.

Interesting info about the history of doughnuts.