Bismarks

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hello, this is John calling from Sonoma, California.

Hiya, John. What’s going on in Sonoma?

Well, I actually was curious about something I called at one time Bismarck’s. When I was growing up in Illinois, we would go to the bakery and I would get Bismarck’s, which other people call jelly donuts.

Mm—

And I seem to be the only one that remembers, or up until recently, I was the only one that ever called them that. And I saw an old rerun of Father Knows Best, a television show from the 50s or 60s.

Sure.

And Bud said, can I have another Bismarck? And I said, my goodness, I am not alone.

You jumped out of your chair.

So then I would make a point of saying, oh, Bismarcks, or I would go in to get donuts, and I’d say I’d have half a dozen Bismarcks, and they’d say what, and I’d say, well, give me some jelly donuts instead.

And then I Googled it.

-huh.

I got over 1,000, maybe 1,500 hits. You know, there are people that still call them that, I guess.

Sure.

And I suppose the obvious reason is they were named after either North Dakota or Count Bismarck or whatever. And I guess my question is, is that true? Were they named after him? Why am I the only one that seems to remember them as Bismarcks? And is that enough of a question?

That’s a great question. So is it exactly the same thing as a jelly donut?

It is a jelly donut.

Oh, it is. Okay.

Well, as far as I can tell, but when I was a little kid and we would, and I lived, you know, I’ve lived in various places in the country, but I always remember that Bismarck seems like something special.

Yes.

And whenever we would go back to visit, I had to go to that bakery. You know, it might have been that they used a certain kind of filling, and maybe they cooked them a little differently. I don’t know.

Did it have powdered sugar on the top?

Oh, my heavens, no. It had to be glazed.

Oh, glazed. Very particular about your Bismarck’s then, huh?

And a certain kind of jelly?

Well, I don’t know. You know, when you get jelly donuts today, you can get anything in them.

Right.

Right, right, right. And you can get custard or raspberry or strawberry.

Yeah.

They’ll put pickle relish in there if they want.

Yeah, they don’t make jelly donuts like they used to. You grew up in Illinois. Where in Illinois?

Well, here’s the thing. It was Streeter, Illinois. And one of the things that I guess another thing that was in the back of my mind was that in Father Knows Best, they lived in a town called Springfield. Just like the Simpsons.

So I wondered if the writer was from Illinois or something, and they called him Bismarck when he was a kid or something.

Yes, that could well be. And, you know, the story I’ve heard, John, is that it comes from the Hotel Bismarck in Chicago, which was built by German immigrants.

So what, it was the specialty of the house restaurant?

Yes.

Yeah, or they had a bakery there, actually. And it doesn’t surprise me because a lot of times foods get named and get associated with a particular hotel or a particular restaurant.

I know when I was growing up in Louisville, Kentucky, we had a hot brown. And do you know what that had in it, John? Have you ever had a hot brown?

I don’t think so.

Not by that name.

Well, it’s from the Brown Hotel in Louisville, and it was, get this, it was an open-faced turkey sandwich with bacon and cheese sauce.

Mmm.

Past the Lipitor.

Oh, yeah, past the Lipitor. Holy moly.

Well, of course, everyone thinks of Waldorf salad as well, which supposedly was named after the hotel.

Right.

Was it?

Yeah.

I think it was, as far as I know. That’s the story, anyway. And the story that I heard about Bismarck Donuts is that they originated there, or at least they were popularized by Germans in that area, the Hotel Bismarck probably being named for the Chancellor Bismarck, the German Chancellor.

Well, John, I think that your connection to Illinois is strong, because I think that is actually where the term originated. That’s where it’s still most used, and I’m not surprised that you don’t find it elsewhere. That’s the best we can tell you, but I think that’s pretty good information.

Well, I’m happy.

Okay. Bon appetit.

Yeah, bon appetit.

Okay. Au revoir.

Take care of yourself there. Au revoir.

Auf Wiedersehen.

Auf Wiedersehen.

Goodbye.

Goodbye.

You know, Grant, I neglected to mention that a Bismarck is also a drink.

Oh, really?

Did you know that?

Yes.

What’s in that?

It’s a mixture of champagne and stout.

Sounds pretty yummy, huh?

I’m not sure about that. It’s also called a black velvet. If you’ve got a question about food or you want to send us a care package, give us a call, 1-877-929-9673. Send us an email to words@waywordradio.org or talk about your food fantasies on our discussion forum, also at waywordradio.org.