Have you ever wondered who “invented” cotton candy?
A Dentist!
As if it wasn’t ironic enough that a dentist invented a treat made of spun sugar and air, it was invented independently by two different dentists–(Was it a plot to increase business!)
There is a traditional treat called, in many parts of the world, Dragon’s Beard, made by hand pulling and stretching sugar until it becomes fine like spider silk. Historically it was very labor intensive and inaccessible to most consumers. In 1897 a dentist by the name of Dr. William Morrison worked with his friend, a candy maker, John C. Wharton. They sold the machine-spun sugar under the name “Fairy Floss” at the 1904 St Louis World’s Fair moving over 68,000 boxes of it at 25 cents a box. Nearly two decades later another dentist, Dr. Joseph Lascaux, invented a similar machine which also spun sugar into a fine fluff. He called it cotton candy, a name that has stuck ever since.
So next time you are at an event and your buy some you can always say that a dentist recommended it.
