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National Waffle Iron Day

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national waffle iron dayNational Waffle Iron Day celebrates one of the world’s favorite kitchen appliances. Although today’s date appears to have no historical significance, from Medieval communion wafers to Nike sneakers, there’s no doubt that the waffle iron has made quite an impression on world history.

The waffle iron’s earliest known predecessor is the Medieval fer à hosties, irons used to make communion wafers. Introduced during the 9th-10th centuries, the plates bore images of Jesus and his crucifixion, which were imprinted on the wafers during the heating process.

The Belgian waffle we enjoy today originated in the 1300s, when two metal plates were hinged together and attached to a long pole, making it possible to cook over an open fire without risking burns. The plates often depicted a family’s coat of arms or other personally significant images.

In 1869, the first U.S. patent for an “Improvement in Waffle-Irons” was awarded to inventor Cornelius Swartwout, who revolutionized the waffle-making process. He fitted his design, intended for use on a stovetop, with an innovative handle that allowed for opening, closing, and turning the cast-iron plates, which were joined by a hinge that swiveled within a cast-iron collar.

In 1911, General Electric made a prototype of an electric waffle iron but didn’t produce and sell the design until 1918. We’ve been unable to ascertain the reason for the delay, but we would guess that the company was perfecting the cooking process to create consistent results while adding safety measures to reasonably avoid fire hazards. (We say “reasonably” because this was a time when consumers were expected to take responsibility for common-sense precautions and wouldn’t, say, sue G.E. if they left the iron on all day and burned down the house.)

The prize for the most creative use of a waffle iron goes to Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman, an Oregon track coach who was trying to create a lightweight sole with excellent traction. Sometime in 1970, Bowerman was inspired by the waffles his wife had made for breakfast. He commandeered the waffle iron and filled it with melted urethane. Although Bowerman forgot to grease the iron and it glued shut, he persevered, and the profit from the sneaker empire he created was more than enough to replace the family waffle iron.

To celebrate today, you don’t need to invent anything more involved than your choice of waffle toppings. Just grab a napkin and have a yummy National Waffle Iron Day!

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Barcode Day

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barcode day

Today is Barcode Day. On June 26, 1974, at Marsh’s Supermarket in Troy, Ohio, a 10-pack of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit gum became the first product bearing a barcode to be rung up by an electronic scanner.

That historic moment had been a long time in the making. In 1952, American inventors Norman J. Woodland and Bernard Silver were granted a U.S. patent for a classification method and apparatus utilizing identifying patterns. Diagrams showed code in straight lines and concentric circles with varying degrees of reflectiveness. Unfortunately, they were ahead of their time and eventually sold off the patent for $15,000.

Railroads began to use barcodes in the late 1960s; companies encoded identifying information onto plates mounted on the sides of each car. Trackside scanners read them and transmitted the results, allowing owners to keep track of their rolling stock on a grand scale. However, dirt and damage to the plates caused issues with accuracy and reliability, and the system was eventually abandoned.

As usage spread,  the establishment of a universal standard became imperative to avoid confusion between disparate systems.  In 1970, Logicon, Inc. created the Universal Grocery Products Identification Code (UGPIC) for use throughout the retail industry.

barcode day

visual approximation

The UGPIC evolved into the Universal Product Code (UPC) symbol set, still used in the U.S. today. The first piece of equipment built to use UPC was installed in the Troy, Ohio, grocery store, which, along with that pack of gum, made history.

In 2002, Forbes magazine reported that the same pack of gum was on display at the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of American History. While the scanner is housed there — no longer on view — a staffer has clarified that the 10-pack of Juicy Fruit accompanying it is not the actual 10-pack of Juicy Fruit, but rather a representation.

Our guess is that the gum was chewed over 40 years ago without a thought to its cultural significance, which is okay if you think about it. It served its purpose, maybe even got stuck to more than a few shoes — it had 50 sticks in it, after all.

Happy Barcode Day!

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Pink Flamingo Day

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pink flamingo day

Today is Pink Flamingo Day, founded on June 23, 2007, by Mayor Dean Mazzarella of Leominster, Massachusetts, to honor the 50th birthday of the iconic lawn ornaments that have happily survived despite homeowners’ associations’ attempts to hunt them to extinction.

In 1957, art school graduate Don Featherstone was tasked with creating a pink flamingo for his employer, Union Products, located in Leominster, often referred to as the “Plastics Capital of the World.” Using National Geographic photographs as reference material, Featherstone sculpted two pink flamingos. They were meant to be a festive way for homeowners to personalize the identical yards of postwar suburban subdivisions.

Featherstone would go on to create 750 items for Union Products and become the company’s president in 1996. His flamingos were popular but eventually became a target of derision, a symbol of tackiness. Many fans remain loyal in defiance of their neighbors’ plot to eradicate them under the guise of lawn beautification. (If we’re going there, let’s talk about how many seasonal flags a community needs.)

No history would be complete without mentioning John Waters and his 1972 movie, Pink Flamingos. An enthusiastic proponent of all things kitsch, camp, and lowbrow, Waters helped bring the decoration to a new audience, one that reveled in irony. It’s clear that pink flamingos continued to sell. So many knockoffs were produced that in the late 1980s, Featherstone added his signature to the molds to identify the real thing.

Featherstone retired in 2000. Union Products closed its doors in 2006, after producing more than 20 million flamingos. Cado Company in Fitchburg, MA, bought the rights a few years later and now manufactures birds with the inventor’s signature on the bottom.

Featherstone passed away on June 22, 2015, at the age of 79, one day shy of the 28th annual Pink Flamingo Day. Claude Chapdelaine, VP at Cado, told Boston Magazine,: “He was just a really nice guy, never took himself seriously. Throughout his career, he made all kinds of lawn and garden ornaments. A lot of people referred to them as being kind of kitsch. He said, ‘You know what? It makes people laugh and brings a smile to everybody’s face’ and that’s what he liked.”

Bring a smile to everybody’s face today by planting some pink flamingos of your own. If you have some already, display them prominently: no hiding them behind shrubbery allowed! Even if the closest thing you have to a yard is a plant on your windowsill, there’s always room for these Lilliputian versions.

pink flamingos planted in houseplant

Happy Pink Flamingo Day!

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June 10 is the Banana Split Festival

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June 10, 2026, marked the 32nd annual Banana Split Festival. Behind the scenes of this sweet celebration, a battle has raged for years between the citizens of two All-American towns.

Each year, the festivities honor Ernest Hazard of Wilmington, Ohio, who concocted the treat in 1907 to attract Wilmington College students to his establishment.

He halved a banana, added three scoops of ice cream, topped each with chocolate syrup, strawberry jam, or pineapple bits, sprinkled ground nuts on top, covered it in whipped cream, and added two cherries for good measure. He later brainstormed the name with a cousin.

banana split festival

Hazard’s Cafe, Wilmington, OH

In June 1995, the people of Wilmington created the Banana Split Festival to commemorate Hazard’s invention. It’s been celebrated every year since.

However, in August 2004, residents of Latrobe, Pennsylvania, announced that pharmacist David Strickler had invented the dessert at Tassel Pharmacy in 1904, three years before Hazard. The town instituted its own Great American Banana Split Celebration, pegged to the 100th anniversary.

The National Ice Cream Retailers Association (NICRA) certified Latrobe as the birthplace of the banana split. Food historian Michael Turback, author of The Banana Split Book, agreed, although he was unable to find any hard evidence, such as newspaper clippings on which to base his decision.

banana split festival

Tassel Pharmacy, Latrobe, PA

“Soda fountains were very competitive,” Turback explained of the opposing claims.  “They were always trying to outdo each other, to see who had the most elaborate sundaes.”

While Wilmington, Ohio, and Latrobe, Pennsylvania, continue to duke it out for dessert dominance, the real winners are banana split fans who have not one, but two events to celebrate their love for a whole lot of ice cream with a little bit of fruit.

Ohio’s festival features live music, pony rides, a petting zoo, a baseball tournament, a 5K run, and a banana split eating competition (no hands allowed!). However, the featured attraction every year is a “make your own banana split” booth. Yum!

Happy Banana Split Festival! (And don’t worry: you’ll get another chance to celebrate in August!)

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