
How ‘Bacon and Eggs’ Became the American Breakfast - boh
http://www.americantable.org/2012/07/how-bacon-and-eggs-became-the-american-breakfast/
======
bane
A bit of hyperbole, but having married into an East Asian household and spent
lots of time traveling around the world, I'm soundly convinced that a well
defined breakfast meal, with its own traditions, foods and culinary style, is
one of the greatest inventions of western civilization.

I have to question this article because the American breakfast is pretty much
just a local variant on the traditional full breakfast [1][2] popular in the
UK and Ireland -- and you find similar meals in Australia, Canada, South
Africa and New Zealand...kinda what you'd expect.

But as a meal, it's unbelievably awesome. Far better than some reheated
fermented bean soup, a bowl of cold rice and some cold fish (which is what I
get served when I visit my in-laws).

Actually, the truth is, I can eat local food almost anywhere in the world for
2 meals a day, but breakfast...there's something really special about a full
breakfast. Even if I can't swing a full breakfast, I can almost always cook up
some eggs and eat a sweat pastry or something from a local bakery I bought the
night before.

1 -
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_breakfast](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_breakfast)

2 - [http://www.englishbreakfastsociety.com/english-
breakfast/his...](http://www.englishbreakfastsociety.com/english-
breakfast/history_of_the_traditonal_full_english_breakfast/)

~~~
gohrt
What you are actually saying is that you like the food you are accustomed to
eating, and you doused your observation in a coating of provincial chauvinism.

~~~
bane
I cannot deny your statement -- it's definitely, absolutely true.

When I'm overseas for a long time, there are 3 things that I crave down to my
bones. I guess those are the three things that are core to my being as an
American. I'm not ashamed to admit this either after working with many expats
in the States who practically go insane trying to find even simple tastes from
home to center themselves.

a) the kind of breakfast that's common to the English speaking world (I don't
want to say Western, because breakfasts on the European mainland aren't it).
In a pinch some fried eggs and a pastry of some kind with some coffee will do.

b) Tex-Mex food. Taco Bell in particular (if you can charitably call that Tex-
Mex). I've stood in line for 2 hours and paid $5 a taco once at an overseas
Taco Bell I needed it so bad.

But really, finding even passable Tex-Mex outside of the U.S. is frustratingly
hard. I've even eaten "Mexican" meat pies in Australia I was so desperate for
the taste. They did not satisfy.

c) Any kind of African-American music...which is odd since I don't normally
like most of it, but hearing it on the radio after a long time away from home
is the sweetest sound I've ever heard and has symbolically told me that yes,
I'm really finally home.

One time, after a very extended stay in Germany, when I could practically feel
the sausage and cold cuts oozing from my pores I was thinking about tossing it
in and going home until I came across a Soul Food restaurant in Vilsek [1]. I
sat down, ordered some fried catfish! , sweet ice tea, collard greens and
cornbread and sat there for three hours listening to background jazz music.
For those three hours I was absolutely transported into the symbolic heart of
Americana and left there absolutely renewed and psychically refreshed. I think
the staff there knew what I was going through and came and kept the sweet tea
filled over some light conversation.

I don't normally like any of those foods or jazz but sitting there completely
recentered me mentally and I went back to my job for the next few weeks and
finished it without problem.

1 - [http://www.angelossoulfood-vilseck.com/](http://www.angelossoulfood-
vilseck.com/)

~~~
cobralibre
Repectfully, no, you _cannot_ charitably call Taco Bell 'Tex-Mex'. This is
easy to remember, because Taco Bell is from Southern California, and Tex-Mex
is from... Texas.

A cursory Google or Wikipedia search could clear up your misunderstanding, but
if you really want to dig deeper into the topic, I strongly recommend Gustavo
Arellano's _Taco USA_ , which is a fine popular history of regional Mexican
cuisines in the United States.

------
gxs
I can't remember off the top of my head, but it's amazing how many of our
american "traditions" are a result of marketing.

While there is nothing inherently bad about this, it definitely gives me a
sense that something is not authentic when I come to learn it was the result
of a marketing campaign.

This bacon and eggs breakfast is just one example. Grilled cheese and tomato
soup is another. Can anyone recall any others?

~~~
teh_klev
"Grilled cheese and tomato soup" \- at first I thought you were having a
laugh. Then I googled. I like to think of myself as widely eaten (hence being
widely sized), but that's a new one on me. I do vaguely remember in British
"bistros" seeing soups topped with cheese (and sometimes with pastry) then
salamandered until the bowl (or glazed pot as was the vogue back then) was so
bloody hot it removed your fingerprints, and you daren't eat a mouthful until
it cooled, lest it blistered your tastebuds. This was in the 70's and 80's,
but never with tomato soup, usually some nasty fish bisque type of thing.

~~~
sp332
Just to be clear - GP is referring to a grilled cheese sandwich, served with
tomato soup.

------
jusben1369
Did anyone else find this article to be bizarrely written?

i) To this day Dentist's applaud adding fluoride to water as a having a huge
impact on reducing cavities. I know some folks don't like it being done and
dispute it but this article dismisses it as though it were some bizarre fad.
ii) drinking glasses were very unsanitary. Moving to paper cups wasn't the
right answer; having better hygiene around washing glasses were. But he was
responding to what had then become well known. That disease/flu etc would
sweep through houses mostly because people shared the same drinking material
and didn't clean them very well. iii) 5000 doctors agreeing that a protein
driven breakfast is some sort of sham? Maybe it was but you'd want a little
more proof than "And this Doctor wrote to 5000 who all agreed because.....?"

This is kind of junky to be on HN homepage.

------
rdl
It's interesting that the traditional NASA launch morning breakfast is steak
and eggs -- apparently protein/fat foods don't cause gas or other GI upset in
space, unlike breads, etc. [http://www.who2.com/blog/2009/07/t-minus-2-days-
and-counting...](http://www.who2.com/blog/2009/07/t-minus-2-days-and-counting-
steak-and-eggs) (although this seems to be less the case now)

(Which is why "steak and eggs at [the place astronauts go before launch]" is
the ideal answer to "what do you want your last meal on Earth to be".)

~~~
Luc
Nowadays astronauts launch from Russia, where the tradition is a double enema
before launch.

I don't know what they have for breakfast, but I guess it doesn't matter much!

------
snowwrestler
> He was the guy who was hired by the Aluminum Company of America to use the
> American Dental Association to convince people that water flouridation was
> safe and healthy to the public.

This shows the downside of Wikipedia. The "source" for this claim is a
conspiracy-nut anti-fluoride essay in the Rothbard-Rockwell Report. Yet it's
passed by Wikipedia--and then this article--as a fact.

------
mathattack
_Believe it or not, though, bacon’s association with the American breakfast is
barely a century old_

I'm not sure why this would be hard to believe at all.

 _In the 1920s, Bernays was approached by the Beech-Nut Packing Company –
producers of everything from pork products to the nostalgic Beech-Nut bubble
gum. Beech-Nut wanted to increase consumer demand for bacon. Bernays turned to
his agency’s internal doctor and asked him whether a heavier breakfast might
be more beneficial for the American public. Knowing which way his bread was
buttered, the doctor confirmed Bernays suspicion and wrote to five thousand of
his doctors friends asking them to confirm it as well. This ‘study’ of doctors
encouraging the American public to eat a heavier breakfast – namely ‘Bacon and
Eggs’ – was published in major newspapers and magazines of the time to great
success. Beech-Nut’s profits rose sharply thanks to Bernays and his team of
medical professionals._

The irony is that this is at least half right. Eating protein for breakfast is
considered healthy. Perhaps there are better ways to get protein than bacon
and fried eggs, but it's not completely off base.

~~~
dylandrop
_> Before this, the majority of Americans ate more modest, often meatless
breakfasts that might include fruit, a grain porridge (oat, wheat or corn
meals) or a roll, and usually a cup of coffee._

Pretty hard to argue that bacon is really as healthy as oatmeal & fruit.

Just for reference, fried eggs have a crapload of cholesterol
([http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=fried+egg](http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=fried+egg))
and bacon is pretty fattening and in general, not too great on cholesterol
either
([http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=2+strips+of+bacon](http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=2+strips+of+bacon)).
And this doesn't even include all of the oil these things are fried in.

~~~
liquidcool
However, eggs have equal amounts of good (HDL) and bad (LDL) cholesterol, so
most nutritionists feel they cancel each other out and hence eggs aren't
considered bad. Few are recommending bacon (although Canadian bacon is fairly
lean).

~~~
dylandrop
Yeah, I don't think eggs are the primary bad guy here, it's mostly the oil /
butter for frying and the bacon.

Also considering the alternative mentioned in the article, eating some fruit
and some grains would probably be much healthier.

------
eggoa
This is hardly the most sinister of Edward Bernays' campaigns. See:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torches_of_Freedom](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torches_of_Freedom)

~~~
bishun
For those inclined to investigate the affects of psychology [theory] on modern
society, and how it has been adapted both commercially and by government, I
suggest checking out:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Century_of_the_Self](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Century_of_the_Self)

Edward Louis Bernays was related to Sigmund Freud. This relationship and more
is expounded upon in the above documentary, which is definitely worth watching
(imho).

~~~
diydsp
I second the Century of the Self. Also, a book was published in 2002 on
Bernays . I found it extraordinarily interesting. [1]

When Bernays was hired to get more books sold, he persuaded architects to
design houses with bookshelves built into them. on the principle that "nature
abhors a vacuum." A slick mofo indeed.

[1] [http://www.amazon.com/The-Father-Spin-Bernays-
Relations/dp/0...](http://www.amazon.com/The-Father-Spin-Bernays-
Relations/dp/0805067892/ref=pd_sim_b_19)

------
Fuzzwah
One of the most disappointing things I ran into when I moved from Australia to
the US was American bacon.

Oh how I miss Australian bacon:
[http://3hourspast.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/picture-28.png](http://3hourspast.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/picture-28.png)

Because to me, American bacon is just the crappy bit which is attached to the
awesome bit.

[http://www.foodsubs.com/Photos/bacon.jpg](http://www.foodsubs.com/Photos/bacon.jpg)

~~~
grecy
I'm in the same boat.

Keep your eyes out for "Canadian bacon". It's not identical to Aussie bacon,
but it's pretty damn close, and lots of supermarkets in the US carry it (being
that it's foreign, and-all)

Don't get me started on what I would do for a good meat pie, sausage roll, or
fish and chips. I haven't been home in 7.5 years...

~~~
debacle
Where do you live that you can't get any of those things? Sausage rolls and
meat pies are winter staples where I live (in the US).

~~~
grecy
I'm in Canada, I've also lived in the US.

Trust me, the sausage rolls and meat pies in North America are a very poor
imitation of the ones back in Australia.

------
binarymax
Bacon is one of the few things that I refuse to eat. I don't understand how
anyone likes the stuff.

It makes me wonder, if the all-American breakfast was a bowl of fruit and a
glass of milk, would there have been an obesity epidemic?

~~~
tptacek
Yes. People who eat bacon and eggs for breakfast are probably demographically
favored _not_ to be obese, because they by implication have access to a
grocery store and time to prepare their own food.

~~~
dylandrop
Uhhhh.... unless they don't make the bacon and eggs themselves.

See: Denny's, McDonald's, Burger King, etc.

This is not to say that bacon and eggs are solely responsible for the obesity
epidemic, but I think it's kind of silly to say that the only people who eat
bacon and eggs are those who cook it for themselves, or are more healthy.

~~~
rayiner
A Bacon, egg, and cheese McMuffin has ~300 calories, which is a perfectly
reasonable breakfast.

The obesity epidemic has nothing to do with bacon and eggs, either home cooked
or from McDonalds. They're so rich its hard to eat enough to blow your calorie
budget.

The problem is french fries (500 for a large order at McD's), soda (~150 per
can), pasta, etc. Nobody would order their hamburger with a side of steak, but
a side of fries seems to be a lot less food and is much less filling, despite
having a similar number of calories. Nobody would order 15-20 slices of bacon
after a big meal at the Cheesecake Factory, but will happily order a giant
slice of cheesecake or similar desert, which has just as many calories. Nobody
would pick up 7-8 strips of bacon on the way home from work before dinner, but
will happily grab a donut and coffee, which has just as many calories.

~~~
bluedino
>> A Bacon, egg, and cheese McMuffin has ~300 calories

And aside from the sodium and cholesterol that might be a reasonable
breakfast. It's no bowl of oatmeal or banana, but it's not going to make you
fat.

On the other hand, a sausage+egg+cheese McGriddle is going to be 500 calories,
two hashbrowns is another 300, and an orange juice is going to be another 200.
You've hit 1,000 calories, half your allotment for the day, and it's not even
7:30 in the morning.

~~~
rayiner
Right, but out of those 1,000 calories, the sausage, egg, and cheese is
probably only 200. The vast majority of the calories in that meal comes from
sugar and carbs. The maple flavoring on the McGriddle is equivalent to a strip
of bacon by itself. The two hash browns are another six strips of bacon, and
the orange juice is another four. Nobody would add 11 strips of bacon to their
sausage, egg, and cheese sandwich, but will happily add the equivalent
calories in carbs and sugar.

~~~
bluedino
>> Nobody would add 11 strips of bacon to their sausage, egg, and cheese
sandwich

There are restaurants in the USA that proudly serve a full pound of bacon in a
BLT.

[http://www.supersizedmeals.com/food/article.php/20090129-1lb...](http://www.supersizedmeals.com/food/article.php/20090129-1lb_of_Bacon_BLT)

~~~
tptacek
Also there are unscrupulous farmers who grow pumpkins the size of small
houses. My point being, let's also blame pumpkins for the obesity epidemic.

~~~
dylandrop
_> My point being, let's also blame pumpkins for the obesity epidemic._

No. Let's blame over-processed and unhealthy foods (and in the case of
McDonald's, meals derived almost entirely from corn).

------
001sky
This Article seems to ignore the (historical) fact that America is just
following the footsteps of the common breakfast in all other English speaking
countries (eg, UK, Ireland, Australia, etc). Which is odd....

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_breakfast](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_breakfast)

------
bryanlarsen
Isn't the standard American breakfast a bowl of Corn Flakes? Breakfast cereal
is perhaps the most heavily marketed of all grocery store foods.

------
riffraff
wait: isn't fried pork and eggs a staple of the whole english speaking world's
breakfast?

Granted, back bacon is a magnitude better than streaky bacon, but it's still
basically pork&salt :)

------
th0ma5
For some reason I want to associate this with the fact that names that become
generic can make you lose your trademark. I'm thinking of course of Kleenex
(brand tissues) and Velcro (brand hook & loop fasteners), both of which are so
synonymous with the entire category that my spell check doesn't underline
them.

I want to think of that as a monopoly on the concept, and if you have that,
then you lose control simply because the public equates the name with the
thing solely. I think this is fair as a monopoly is not welcomed generally, so
it makes sense that you can have something so popular it loses its trademark
and becomes a commodity in the mind.

This story here however makes me want bacon now a little less, though.

------
fintler
This appears to be a sample of one of their newspaper announcements from 1922
(today was the first time I noticed that Google has replaced the ritual of
asking a librarian for microfiche rolls).

[http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2293&dat=19220917&id=X...](http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2293&dat=19220917&id=XOZfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=OAMGAAAAIBAJ&pg=993,397169)

It's interesting that there's a small part at the end where it mentions that a
heavy lunch is best, but most of the article is about a heavy breakfast.

It seems like a lighter breakfast would be the healthier option, but I can't
seem to find any studies to back that up.

~~~
nobodysfool
I tried to find more information about this "pie zone" but was unable. Were
pies assigned to zones at that time? Just what was going on with pie in the
1920's that they had to have their own zone?

~~~
fintler
I really have no idea, but here's my current guess.

From the page at:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melton_Mowbray_pork_pie#Melton...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melton_Mowbray_pork_pie#Melton_Mowbray_pork_pie)

 _Protection was granted on 4 April 2008, with the result that only pies made
within a designated zone around Melton, and using the traditional recipe
including uncured pork, are allowed to carry the Melton Mowbray name on their
packaging_

So, it appears that a "pie zone" _may_ be a "Protected designation of origin".

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protected_designation_of_origi...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protected_designation_of_origin)

However, applying this to the context of the article barely makes sense.
Perhaps the 1920s "pie zone" is what eventually evolved into the 2008 law?

------
dbbolton
If I'm not mistaken, bacon was actually a popular breakfast food long before
this marketing campaign took place, and even before the US existed.

------
shn
Who said that eating pork is good and allowed to swallow in the first place.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46G_DcnKOsU&feature=youtube_...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46G_DcnKOsU&feature=youtube_gdata_player)

------
vezzy-fnord
I highly recommend everyone here read Edward L. Bernays' seminal 1928 work
titled _Propaganda_.

It is absolutely key to understanding how the modern world works, and it has
influenced countless propagandists since then, including Joseph Goebbels.

------
ssttoo
Wasn't the story of the orange juice the same? Overproduction + marketing as
healthy = tradition (no sources, sorry, something I saw on TV)

------
ronilan
Somewhat OT but there is this old story - a startup is just like bacon and
eggs.

In a startup, all employees are contributors while the founders are commited.
Same as in bacon and eggs. The chickens are contributors but the pigs are
commited.

And the outcome? If you want the biggest share you need to be a pig. And you
can only do that if you are not a chicken.

~~~
ajlburke
Yeah but what happens to the pigs in the end? Chickens are still around
afterwards to lay more eggs.

~~~
biondim
At least as long as they still have eggs to lay. Once they run out they are
tossed (as in thrown into a landfill). Net / Net, it doesn't end well for
either party.

------
rodedwards
Well, now I'm hungry.

------
rottyguy
Swine-dled!

