In 1931 while looking for a way to keep his company’s shortcake-
baking machinery busy when strawberries are out of season,
manager James Dewar tried injecting one of the cakes with
cream filling. He dubbed his creation the Twinkie.
James Alexander Dewar (1897-1985)
In Boston Harbor, a group of Massachusetts colonists
disguised as Mohawk Indians board three tea ships
and dump 342 chests of tea into the harbor.
The midnight raid, popularly known as the “Boston
Tea Party,” was in protest of the British Parliament’s
Tea Act of 1773, a bill designed to save the faltering
East India Company by greatly lowering its tea tax
and granting it a virtual monopoly on the American
tea trade.
The low tax allowed the East India Company to undercut
even tea smuggled into America by Dutch traders, and
many colonists viewed the act as another example of
taxation tyranny.
The term ‘Tea Party’ was not actually used at the time
and was coined in the 1830s when the Revolutionary
generation looked back with nostalgia fifty years later.
National Donut Day started in 1938 as a fundraiser for The
Salvation Army in Chicago.
Their goal was to help those in need during the Great
Depression, and to honor the Salvation Army "Lassies"
of World War I, who served doughnuts to soldiers.
The Original Taco House was a chain of Mexican restaurants
based in Portland, Oregon. Established by the Waddle family
in 1960, the business at one time had five locations. The last
remaining two locations closed on December 31, 2017.
The Northeast 82nd location was the first Original Taco House,
which opened in 1960. It was a fixture on KOIN-TV’s mid-day
cooking segments.
Tik Tok Restaurant 12th Avenue on Sandy where Burnside Intersects in Portland, Oregon (1950s).
The Tik Tok was Portland’s first drive-in from 1938 to 1971 — with
its "Time to Eat" sign and giant neon coffee cup.
The Foursquare Church of Portland now owns the property where
the restaurant once stood.
