Stephanie Honchell Smith: The dark history of Graham crackers

The dark history of Graham crackers

In the 1800s, minister Sylvester Graham believed Americans had a big problem— not just with their bodies, but their souls. He argued that overindulgence was fueling their baser desires, making them immoral and oversexed. To curb this corruption, puritanical reformers advocated for foods they thought curbed a variety of appetites. Stephanie Honchell Smith details the invention of Graham crackers. [Directed by Anton Bogaty, narrated by Susan Zimmerman, music by Salil Bhayani, cAMP Studio].

In the 1800s, a wave of reformers promoted bland, whole grain diets to tame what they saw as America's runaway appetites and moral decay. Sylvester Graham believed flavorful foods led to overindulgence and even stoked sexual urges, so he invented the original Graham bread as a remedy. Ironically, his plain recipes inspired foods like granola, Corn Flakes, and the sweet, mass-produced Graham cracker. Today, the s’more stands as a delicious reversal of the cracker’s puritanical beginnings.