Toll House Inn facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Toll House Inn |
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The restored sign of the Toll House Inn, with a commemorative plaque underneath
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| General information | |
| Address | 362 Bedford Street |
| Town or city | Whitman, Massachusetts |
| Country | U.S. |
| Coordinates | 42°04′15″N 70°56′54″W / 42.0709°N 70.94825°W |
| Opened | 1930 |
| Demolished | 1984 |
| Owner | Ruth Graves Wakefield |
The Toll House Inn was a famous country inn in Whitman, Massachusetts. Kenneth Wakefield and his wife Ruth Graves Wakefield opened the business in 1930. People visited the inn to eat delicious meals and tasty desserts. It is most famous as the birthplace of delicious chocolate chip cookies.
Contents
The History of the Toll House Inn
The building stood in the U.S. along an old road. Many people believed the building was an ancient toll house from 1709. However, workers actually built the house in 1817. Using the old name was simply a clever marketing idea.
Ruth Wakefield managed the kitchen and cooked all the food for guests. She quickly earned great fame for her sweet treats. She loved to test different ingredients and invent new treats for travelers.
Inventing the Famous Cookie
In 1938, Ruth worked with her kitchen assistant named Sue Brides. They wanted to make their popular butterscotch nut treat even better. Ruth took a hard bar of semi-sweet chocolate made by Nestlé. She chopped the chocolate bar into tiny pieces.
Ruth mixed the chocolate chunks into a butter drop dough recipe. She thought the chocolate pieces would melt completely into the dough. Instead, the bits held their shape and turned soft and creamy. This happy baking experiment became the very first batch of chocolate chip cookies.
Working With Nestlé
The brand new baked cookies became an immediate hit with local customers. Soon, word spread about the wonderful new treat. Ruth decided to reach out to the Nestlé company with her idea.
The two partners struck an amazing business deal together. Nestlé agreed to print the famous cookie recipe on their packages. In return, Ruth received a free lifetime supply of chocolate. Nestlé even began manufacturing small chocolate morsels specifically meant for baking sweet desserts.
Ruth also published an extremely successful cookbook titled Toll House Tried and True Recipes. Her book went through 39 different printings because families loved it.
The End of the Inn
Ruth Wakefield passed away in 1977 after living a creative life. Sadly, the historic inn caught fire on New Year's Eve in 1984. The blaze started inside the kitchen and destroyed the entire wooden structure.
Workers never rebuilt the famous restaurant after the big fire. Today, visitors can see a special historic marker at 362 Bedford Street. The original restored sign still stands tall at the site. Even now, Nestlé still prints Ruth's original treat guide on every package of chocolate morsels.
Images for kids
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Toll House Inn Restaurant, Route 18, Whitman, Massachusetts, prior to destruction in 1984 fire
See also
In Spanish: Toll House Inn para niños
