Last Titanic witness turns 100
Last Titanic witness turns 100_Last Titanic Witness Turns 100---For the last 100 years Titanic: Stuart was born on July 4, 1910 in Santa Monica. 100 years ago Titanic: Oreos are celebrating their 100 birthday. Turns out they were far more unsinkable than one of their contemporaries, Titanic. The ship sank in 1912, the same year the Oreo was first made.
It was born the "Oreo Biscuit," produced by National Biscuit Company, later known as Nabisco. In 1921, the name changed to "Oreo Sandwich." Since 1937, it has been called the "Oreo Creme Sandwich," although folks usually call it the Oreo cookie.
Originally, Oreos were packaged in bulk tins sold by weight; grocers paid 30 cents a pound for the first ones.
Now Oreos are sold in more than 100 countries. They're the top-selling cookie in the world, with $1.5 billion in worldwide revenues.
After the United States, the most Oreos are sold in China (where one variety has green-tea-ice-cream-flavored filling), Venezuela, Canada, Indonesia and Mexico. Last year, the cookie entered three new markets: Poland, Germany and India.
China also sells Oreos with raspberry-blueberry or orange-mango filling. Indonesia has strawberry, blueberry or orange filling. Mexico has "Oreo Trio Chocolate" - three different kinds of chocolate in each Oreo (one each in the two cookies and a third in the filling). A limited-edition Birthday Cake Oreo featuring colored sprinkles in a vanilla-cake-flavored creme (think funfetti) debuted in late February, and will be on store shelves through April.
Basil Maglaris, associate director of corporate affairs for Nabisco's parent company, Kraft Foods, said one of his favorites is a three-layered Oreo covered with fudge, sold individually wrapped in Argentina.
Oreos didn't change much in their first six decades or so. There was a short-lived lemon-creme variety in the 1920s, but it wasn't until the 1970s that Oreo variations began to proliferate. Modifications sold in the U.S. have included Double Stuf, mint creme, fudge and white fudge coating, vanilla Oreos, holiday frosting colors and more. "Cookies 'n' Cream" ice cream debuted in 1983.
The recipe for the traditional Oreo hasn't changed much over the century, but the design has. The original design had a narrow wreath around the outside with "OREO" on a plain surface; today's embossment, which dates back to 1953, is crammed with flowers all around the "OREO" letters. As Maglaris notes, the more crevices, the better milk clings to the cookie.