BLAST FROM THE PAST: Teddy Grahams! (with bonus graham crackers & S'Mores martini to celebrate)

Photo: Reddit / r/nostalgia

Introduced in 1988 by Nabisco, Teddy Grahams rank as one of the most successful new grocery products in history.  The teddy bear shaped graham cookies came in 3 flavors: honey, cinnamon, and chocolate (my personal favorite). In their first year they generated $150 million in sales (or $380 million in today's dollars).  Damn...that's a lot of bank in one year! The cookies have questionable nutritional value - but who cares they're delicious and damn cute.

The cookies were graham crackers shaped into teddy bears (posing with arms up or down). In case you're curious, graham crackers were created back in the 19th century when Sylvester Graham (who was a minister) mixed graham flour (aka whole wheat flour) with molasses to create a sugarless wafer. Why did he do this? Good question. 

Sylvester Graham, who believed society's moral failings could be blamed on an unholy diet. Photo: All Thats Interesting

You see, Sylvester was knee-deep in the temperance movement in the 1820s- 1840s. The temperance movement promoted the abstinence of alcohol. But Sylvester, being a staunch religious windbag, took it one step further and included ungodly behavior such eating junk food and - gasp - masturbation. Sylvester believed that minimizing pleasure would lead a person towards a righteous life and that all moral failings were due to what he called an unholy diet. He thought that white bread was evil! Nooooo....I love my Wonder Bread! 

Sylvester created the graham wafer which was a "dull biscuit made from unsifted flour" that reflected his belief that people should live a simple godly life. Sylvester didn't profit from graham wafers because of his religious views. In 1898 the National Biscuit Company (Nabisco) was the first company to mass produce graham wafers which over time became better known as graham crackers. 

 Let's get back to Teddy Grahams. 

The reason Teddy Grahams became so popular was great marketing and advertising. Nabisco ran what seemed like nonstop  commercials for the cookies. They became so popular that store shelves were empty as soon as they were stocked. Stores had to put limits on how many boxes a person could buy.  Here's a 1989 commercial featuring the bears rocking out to an Elvis tune.

Over the years, Nabisco introduced additional flavors and different offerings including Teddy Graham Soft Bakes, Teddy Graham Bearwiches, Teddy Grahams Breakfast Bars, and Teddy Grahams cereal. Most of these line extensions aren't around anymore but the original cookies are. While they're not as popular as they were 35 years ago, they are still a part of the grocery landscape. 

So, let's raise a S'Mores martini to honor Sylvester Graham and Teddy Grahams. Sylvester would be pissed that his graham crackers were being used in such a filthy, immoral, ungodly manner. I say drink up!

S'Mores Martini. Photo: Host The Toast

 Sources:  All Thats Interesting; Mashed.com; Snack History.com