There ’s no food fight quite like one that exists between two state of matter fighting for ownership of an origin story . Take Pennsylvania and Maine , for case . For virtually 100 years , these northeast locales have been duking it out forwhoopie piesupremacy . You read that right , whoopie pie .
The palm - sized , chocolate sandwich - like goodie anchored together by creamy vanilla filling has been at the heart of a multi - United States Department of State tug - of - war with no death in quite a little . So which State Department owns gasconade right ?
The early title appears to go to Maine . In 1925,Labadie ’s Bakeryopened its door on Lincoln Street in Lewiston , then a modest mill townsfolk draw close near the Androscoggin River . Soon after , they lay claim to have sell the first Maine whoopie . But , alas , there ’s no documented substantiation . All of the bakeshop ’s other file were destroyed in a ardor . Evidence or not , Mainers insist the whoopie pie ’s provenance is the Pine Tree State . Dozens , if not hundreds , of bakeries throughout the State Department make and sell whoopie Proto-Indo European — as many as 100,000 per year , accord to Robert S. Cox in his bookNew England Pie : History Under a encrustation . It seems Maine has a solid foundation to back up their title .
folk music in the Keystone State , however , beg to differ . They argue the creamy confections were first create in Pennsylvania Dutch Country , with recipes turn over down through the generation . According to Pennsylvanians , Amish Cook made the first whoopies using remnant cake batter . Legend has it that children ( and glad married man ) holler " whoopee ! ” as they discovered these pleasant-tasting goody in their lunch buckets . Down Easter dispute that name claim as well : They ’ll tell you the catchy name was derived from Gus Kahn ’s democratic ' XX show strain " Makin ' Whoopee . " " It ’s a jazzy intersection name , " Sandy Oliver , a Maine - based solid food historiographer , told Philly.com in 2011 .
iStock
consort to the Oxford English Dictionary , " whoopee " was coin in the 1860s as an interpellation to express joyfulness . By the time the Roaring Twenties pluck around , the term had acquired slightly risqué undertones with the period ’s flame spring chicken . So either state could be on to something . It ’s just another mystery in the whoop - de - do over the whoopie Proto-Indo European .
What ’s not a mystery is how far some people will go to stake their claim to this wondrous confection . Maine ’s now - senator Paul Davis stirred thing up in January 2011 when he introduced a bill to make the whoopie pie Maine ’s official state dessert . The proposal , L.D. 71 ; H.P. 59 , received bipartisan support despite react views ( some felt blueberry pie deserved the realization ) . Others were hesitant to hold such a " weighty " bill . " Do we really desire to exalt a dessert that lists lard as its primary ingredient ? " Don Pilon , a Representative from Saco , asked during testimonial . The appellative was later changed to prescribed res publica treat with blueberry Proto-Indo European being honored as the official province dessert .
Before it run , word of the proposed bill made its fashion to Pennsylvania , and residents were not happy . " We do the original , " baker Nancy Rexroadtoldthe Associated Press . " When something ’s the original , you ca n’t ameliorate on it . " The Pennsylvania Dutch Convention & Visitors Bureau forthwith launched an on-line petition that read " Save Our Whoopie , " call the Maine bill a " confectionary thieving . " Ouch . The effortincluded a tongue - in - buttock videothat lampoon the " misguided moose - lovers . "
If that was n’t enough , Josh Graupera of Lancaster was so umbrageous after hearing about Maine ’s pending legislation that he and a friend organized a objection in downtown Lancaster in February 2011 . More than 100 Pennsylvanians rallied , hold up sign with messagesfor their competition up northerly : " 100 % PA Dutch " ; " Mainers , You Go wipe out Lobster " ; " Give Me Whoopie , or Give Me Death " ; and " Whoopie Pies from Maine Taste Like Moose Poop ! " Double ouch .
" generation and generations have been making and eating whoopie pies here in Lancaster , " one dissident order . " My nan did in the ' 30s and ' 40 and her mother did before her . "
So why not put an final stage to this slight quarrel like responsible for , reasonable adults ? Why not have a whoopie Proto-Indo European bake off and settle down the debate once and for all ? Well , because there ’s a curve ball ball — called Massachusetts . It seems Bay Staters also want a piece of the Proto-Indo European .
When write her book , Making Whoopies : The Official Whoopie Pie Book , source Nancy Griffin made a surprising find — one that took her away from claims that either Maine or Pennsylvania was the first state to make a whoopie . In her research , she uncovereda 1931 advertizement featuring a five - cent " Berwick whoopee pie"made at Boston ’s now - defunct Berwick Cake Co. The faded declaration " Whoopee Pies " is still visible on theold brick Berwick edifice , and some believe that Berwick invent the whoopie pieto compete withBrooklyn ’s Devil Dogs , which were bring out in the 1920s ( while possibly hold inspiration from the Pittsburgh - surface area treat old salt , which dates to around the same time ) .
But that ’s not the only story out of the Bay State . TheOxford Companion to American Food and Drinkgives Durkee - Mower of Lynn , Massachusetts , the makers of marshmallow crème , citation for New England ’s dearest affair with the whoopie pie . During the thirties , Durkee hosted a kind show called theFlufferetteson the Yankee Radio internet . The last episode mentioned Durkee’sYummy Book , a appeal of sweet recipe let in one for , purportedly , whoopie pies . But , there ’s a problem : In 2009,The New York Timesasked Don Durkee about the story , and after check out Durkee - Mower ’s archives , he come up empty - handed . The best he come up was that the party ’s first credit of whoopie pies was from the seventies . " I ’m baffled,“he evidence theTimes .
Pumpkin whoopie pies . Meal Makeover Moms via Flickr//CC BY - ND 2.0
A few eld before the whoopie Proto-Indo European became Maine ’s official goody , theMaine Whoopie Pie Festivalwas instal by the Center Theatre in the lowly rural town of Dover - Foxcroft . The annual event is held on the fourth Saturday in June , which also happens to be the state ’s prescribed Whoopie Pie Day . Though that particular date has drop dead , you could still get Pennsylvania ’s annualWhoopie Pie Festivalthis weekend , on September 10 , at the Hershey Farm Restaurant & Inn in Lancaster County . The hostelry cook over 100 unlike flavors for the event .
With so many hands in the whoopie jolt , we may never hump whether the whoopie pie originated in New England or is the treasured , traditional goody of Pennsylvania . But as long as they ’re readily available in each fix , that seems like cause for … shoutingwhoopee !
