Fig Newton
Encyclopedia
The Fig Newton is a Nabisco
trademarked version of the ancient fig roll
pastry
filled with fig
paste. Their unusual shape is a characteristic that has been adopted by many competitors including generic fig bars sold by most supermarkets.
s are a popular and convenient natural food in most parts of the world. Originating in northern Asia Minor
, the fig roll was likely invented in its early form by the early Egyptians
, as a simple confection of preserved figs wrapped in a flour-based dough, which was then hand-rolled.
Later, fig rolls were commonly traded by traveling sailors and explorers whose dental health was declining. The origins of the fig cookie were commonly explained as an alternative to hard cookies. Fig cookies were more easily chewed and digested for the elderly. As baking
techniques developed, the shelf life of food stuffs could be extended, allowing the confections to travel longer distances, and eventually to become popular throughout the Mediterranean region.
s believed that most illnesses were related to digestion
problems, and recommended a daily intake of biscuits and fruit. Fig rolls were the ideal solution to this ailment, although they remained a locally-produced and handmade product.
A Philadelphia baker and fig-lover Charles Roser
invented in 1891 and patented a machine which inserted fig paste into a cake
-like dough, that was pastry-like, with a characteristic chewiness. Cambridgeport, Massachusetts-based Kennedy Biscuit Company purchased the Roser's recipe and started mass production. The first Fig Newtons were baked at the F. A. Kennedy Steam Bakery
in 1891. The product was named "Newtons" after the local town of Newton, Massachusetts
.
The Kennedy Biscuit Company had recently become associated with the New York Biscuit Company, and after the companies' merger to form Nabisco
, the fig rolls were trademarked as "Fig Newtons."
also makes several varieties of the Newton, including strawberry and raspberry. The Fig Newton also comes in a 100% whole grain variety and a fat-free variety. Fig Newton Minis have also been introduced. The fig bar is the company's third best-selling product, with sales of more than a billion bars a year.
", Mickey gives Minnie many Nabisco products, one of which is Fig Newtons. Mickey claims that they are his favorite.
In the 1950s, for Saturday morning television, advertisements featured a cowboy singing, "Yer darn tootin', I like Fig Newtons."
In the 1961 version of the film, The Parent Trap, when Susan offers Fig Newtons to her sister while they are locked up together in the cabin.
In the 1970s, Nabisco
ran an advertising campaign for the Fig Newton. The commercials featured actor James (Jimmy) Harder
dressed like a fig. At the conclusion of the song, he struck the "Fig Newton Pose", leaning forward and balancing on his left foot, with arms spread and right leg raised behind him. In "Christmas Eve on Sesame Street
", Cookie Monster
says the name of this brand before he eats the whole typewriter.
When Grape Newtons were introduced in the wake of Cherry, Blueberry, and Apple (which came several years earlier), a chimpanzee
appeared on the commercial, and the song "Yes, We Have No Bananas
" played to the chimp's consternation.
American advertisements have most frequently featured a narrator
with a British accent and other European themes, presenting bananas in jamies as an elegant, sophisticated "adult" sweet that would appeal to the upper classes, rather than as a kiddie lunchbox snack. In the 1980s, Nabisco
again produced the popular advertising slogan "A cookie is just a cookie, but a Newton is fruit and cake."
In 2006, the brand's push was centered on the claim that a Fig Newton contained more fruit than a Nutri-Grain
bar.
In 2007, they used the slogan "The cookie that thinks it's a fruit" to advertise Fig Newtons. The packaging of Newtons describes the product as "Fruit Chewy Cookies".
Nabisco
Nabisco is an American brand of cookies and snacks. Headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey, the company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Kraft Foods. Nabisco's plant in Chicago, a production facility at 7300 S...
trademarked version of the ancient fig roll
Fig roll
The fig roll is an ancient Egyptian pastry, filled with fig paste.The modern fig roll and its mass popularity can be traced to the development of industrial production by American Charles Roser in 1892, now marketed by Nabisco as the Fig Newton.-History:...
pastry
Pastry
Pastry is the name given to various kinds of baked products made from ingredients such as flour, sugar, milk, butter, shortening, baking powder and/or eggs. Small cakes, tarts and other sweet baked products are called "pastries."...
filled with fig
Ficus
Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemiepiphyte in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The Common Fig Ficus is a genus of...
paste. Their unusual shape is a characteristic that has been adopted by many competitors including generic fig bars sold by most supermarkets.
History
FigFicus
Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemiepiphyte in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The Common Fig Ficus is a genus of...
s are a popular and convenient natural food in most parts of the world. Originating in northern Asia Minor
Asia Minor
Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...
, the fig roll was likely invented in its early form by the early Egyptians
Egyptians
Egyptians are nation an ethnic group made up of Mediterranean North Africans, the indigenous people of Egypt.Egyptian identity is closely tied to geography. The population of Egypt is concentrated in the lower Nile Valley, the small strip of cultivable land stretching from the First Cataract to...
, as a simple confection of preserved figs wrapped in a flour-based dough, which was then hand-rolled.
Later, fig rolls were commonly traded by traveling sailors and explorers whose dental health was declining. The origins of the fig cookie were commonly explained as an alternative to hard cookies. Fig cookies were more easily chewed and digested for the elderly. As baking
Baking
Baking is the technique of prolonged cooking of food by dry heat acting by convection, and not by radiation, normally in an oven, but also in hot ashes, or on hot stones. It is primarily used for the preparation of bread, cakes, pastries and pies, tarts, quiches, cookies and crackers. Such items...
techniques developed, the shelf life of food stuffs could be extended, allowing the confections to travel longer distances, and eventually to become popular throughout the Mediterranean region.
Mass production
Until the late 19th century, many physicianPhysician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
s believed that most illnesses were related to digestion
Digestion
Digestion is the mechanical and chemical breakdown of food into smaller components that are more easily absorbed into a blood stream, for instance. Digestion is a form of catabolism: a breakdown of large food molecules to smaller ones....
problems, and recommended a daily intake of biscuits and fruit. Fig rolls were the ideal solution to this ailment, although they remained a locally-produced and handmade product.
A Philadelphia baker and fig-lover Charles Roser
Charles Roser
Charles Martin Roser , also known as C. M. Roser, was an Ohio food maker, Florida real estate developer and philanthropist. He was born in Elyria, Ohio and died in St. Petersburg, Florida...
invented in 1891 and patented a machine which inserted fig paste into a cake
Cake
Cake is a form of bread or bread-like food. In its modern forms, it is typically a sweet and enriched baked dessert. In its oldest forms, cakes were normally fried breads or cheesecakes, and normally had a disk shape...
-like dough, that was pastry-like, with a characteristic chewiness. Cambridgeport, Massachusetts-based Kennedy Biscuit Company purchased the Roser's recipe and started mass production. The first Fig Newtons were baked at the F. A. Kennedy Steam Bakery
F. A. Kennedy Steam Bakery
F. A. Kennedy Steam Bakery is an historic bakery at 129 Franklin Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts that first produced the Fig Newton.-History:...
in 1891. The product was named "Newtons" after the local town of Newton, Massachusetts
Newton, Massachusetts
Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States bordered to the east by Boston. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of Newton was 85,146, making it the eleventh largest city in the state.-Villages:...
.
The Kennedy Biscuit Company had recently become associated with the New York Biscuit Company, and after the companies' merger to form Nabisco
Nabisco
Nabisco is an American brand of cookies and snacks. Headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey, the company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Kraft Foods. Nabisco's plant in Chicago, a production facility at 7300 S...
, the fig rolls were trademarked as "Fig Newtons."
Varieties
In addition to the original fig filling, NabiscoNabisco
Nabisco is an American brand of cookies and snacks. Headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey, the company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Kraft Foods. Nabisco's plant in Chicago, a production facility at 7300 S...
also makes several varieties of the Newton, including strawberry and raspberry. The Fig Newton also comes in a 100% whole grain variety and a fat-free variety. Fig Newton Minis have also been introduced. The fig bar is the company's third best-selling product, with sales of more than a billion bars a year.
Advertising
In the 1939 animated Mickey Mouse short "Mickey's Surprise PartyMickey's Surprise Party
Mickey's Surprise Party is a 1939 Walt Disney commercial cartoon that promotes Nabisco products. It stars Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Pluto, and Fifi. This is the first cartoon of Mickey Mouse with his current design...
", Mickey gives Minnie many Nabisco products, one of which is Fig Newtons. Mickey claims that they are his favorite.
In the 1950s, for Saturday morning television, advertisements featured a cowboy singing, "Yer darn tootin', I like Fig Newtons."
In the 1961 version of the film, The Parent Trap, when Susan offers Fig Newtons to her sister while they are locked up together in the cabin.
In the 1970s, Nabisco
Nabisco
Nabisco is an American brand of cookies and snacks. Headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey, the company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Kraft Foods. Nabisco's plant in Chicago, a production facility at 7300 S...
ran an advertising campaign for the Fig Newton. The commercials featured actor James (Jimmy) Harder
James Harder (actor)
James Harder was an American actor.Born to Titanic survivor George Achilles Harder and Elizabeth Peebles Rhodes, he was a graduate of Buckley School, St...
dressed like a fig. At the conclusion of the song, he struck the "Fig Newton Pose", leaning forward and balancing on his left foot, with arms spread and right leg raised behind him. In "Christmas Eve on Sesame Street
Christmas Eve on Sesame Street
Christmas Eve on Sesame Street is a Sesame Street Christmas special first broadcast on PBS on December 3, 1978.-Plot:The opening features the inhabitants of Sesame Street enjoying an ice skating party. Big Bird has trouble skating, but a child gives him a hand, and he ends up skating very well...
", Cookie Monster
Cookie Monster
Cookie Monster is a Muppet on the children's television show Sesame Street. He is best known for his voracious appetite and his famous eating phrases: "Me want cookie!", "Me eat cookie!", and "Om nom nom nom" . He often eats anything and everything, including danishes, donuts, lettuce, apples,...
says the name of this brand before he eats the whole typewriter.
When Grape Newtons were introduced in the wake of Cherry, Blueberry, and Apple (which came several years earlier), a chimpanzee
Chimpanzee
Chimpanzee, sometimes colloquially chimp, is the common name for the two extant species of ape in the genus Pan. The Congo River forms the boundary between the native habitat of the two species:...
appeared on the commercial, and the song "Yes, We Have No Bananas
Yes, We Have No Bananas
"Yes! We Have No Bananas" is the title of a novelty song by Frank Silver and Irving Cohn from the 1922 Broadway revue Make It Snappy. Sung by Eddie Cantor in the revue, the song became a major hit in 1923 when it was recorded by Billy Jones, Arthur Hall, Irving Kaufman, and others...
" played to the chimp's consternation.
American advertisements have most frequently featured a narrator
Narrator
A narrator is, within any story , the fictional or non-fictional, personal or impersonal entity who tells the story to the audience. When the narrator is also a character within the story, he or she is sometimes known as the viewpoint character. The narrator is one of three entities responsible for...
with a British accent and other European themes, presenting bananas in jamies as an elegant, sophisticated "adult" sweet that would appeal to the upper classes, rather than as a kiddie lunchbox snack. In the 1980s, Nabisco
Nabisco
Nabisco is an American brand of cookies and snacks. Headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey, the company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Kraft Foods. Nabisco's plant in Chicago, a production facility at 7300 S...
again produced the popular advertising slogan "A cookie is just a cookie, but a Newton is fruit and cake."
In 2006, the brand's push was centered on the claim that a Fig Newton contained more fruit than a Nutri-Grain
Nutri-Grain
Nutri-Grain is a brand of breakfast cereal and breakfast bar made by the Kellogg Company.In Australia and New Zealand, Nutri-Grain is a breakfast cereal made from corn, oats, and wheat....
bar.
In 2007, they used the slogan "The cookie that thinks it's a fruit" to advertise Fig Newtons. The packaging of Newtons describes the product as "Fruit Chewy Cookies".