Brown Bobby facts for kids
Brown Bobby doughnuts laid out on a counter
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| Type | Doughnut |
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| Place of origin | United States |
A Brown Bobby is a special kind of doughnut shaped like a triangle. It's not fried like most doughnuts. Instead, it's baked in a unique machine. This machine looks and works a lot like a waffle iron. These machines were made by the Food Display Machine Corporation. This company was located in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. They started making them around the 1920s.
History of the Brown Bobby
The Food Display Machine Corporation was in Chicago. Its leader was H. Adams. In the mid-1920s, the company advertised its machines. They appeared in magazines like Popular Mechanics. The ads suggested that people could start a small business using these machines.
The machine's manual had three main parts:
- Seven Business Plans for a Successful BROWN BOBBY Business
- How to Get the Best Results from Your BROWN BOBBY Machine
- Recipes that Make People Want to Buy
The manual suggested many places to sell Brown Bobbys. These included candy stores, movie theaters, and grocery stores. You could also sell them at bowling alleys, train stations, and dance halls. Even gas stations and general stores were good spots.
The company also sold special boxes and bags. These were for packaging the doughnuts. The Food Display Machine Corporation is no longer in business. This means the machines are not made anymore. In 1937, the company was told to stop making claims. They had been saying people could earn a lot of money with their potato chip machines.
The Brown Bobby Machine
The Brown Bobby machine looked and worked like a waffle iron. Its cooking surfaces were made of aluminium. To prepare it for baking, people would coat it with paraffin. Today, most people would use cooking spray instead.
The machine had two power settings. A high setting used 600 watts for cooking. A low setting used 300 watts. This low setting kept the machine warm when it wasn't being used. You could buy the machines in two ways. A single machine, called a Brown Bobby Junior, cost US$52. You could also get two machines joined together for US$100.
Since these machines are not made anymore, they are quite special. Many owners value them highly. They are often passed down through families. This helps continue the tradition of making Brown Bobbys, especially during holidays.
Brown Bobby Doughnuts
The Brown Bobby manual came with many recipes. It had 10 different doughnut recipes. It also included 4 icing recipes. The company also sold ready-made doughnut mixes.
Some of the doughnut flavors included Plain, Wholewheat, and Bran. There were also Spice, Nut, Tutti-Frutti, Chocolate, and Oatmeal doughnuts. The company said these doughnuts were "greaseless." This was because they were baked, not deep-fried. However, the recipes did include some fat in the doughnut batter itself.
See also
In Spanish: Brown Bobby para niños
