Birthdays Enter the Picture

Though cakes were plentiful, birthdays were only inconsistently celebrated in antiquity. While there’s some evidence for these annual celebrations in ancient Sumer, they weren’t common in ancient Greece. The Romans were the first to mark personal birthdays, though only for men — women’s birthdays weren’t celebrated until the Middle Ages. Roman citizens honored relatives and friends with feasts, and men turning 50 received a special cake made with wheat flour, nuts, honey, and yeast.

Still, birthday cake traditions were limited and inconsistent during ancient times. For centuries, cakes remained associated with weddings, festivals, and offerings to the gods rather than private anniversaries.

The German “Kinderfeste”

The modern birthday cake owes its clearest debt to 18th-century Germany. There, children’s birthdays were marked with Kinderfeste — festive gatherings that included a sweet cake crowned with candles. Each candle represented a year of life, plus one extra for the year to come, a tradition that still survives. The candles were lit in the morning, replaced throughout the day, and finally blown out in the evening after dinner. Much like today, children were encouraged to make a wish as the smoke carried their hopes skyward.

This ritual blended ancient practices, such as Greek candlelit offerings and Roman birthday cakes, into something recognizably modern: a sweet centerpiece, flames to mark the passage of time, and the magical moment of blowing out candles.

From Luxury to Everyday Treat

Even with Kinderfeste in Germany, birthday cakes weren’t for everyone, as the food was considered a luxury treat. For most of history, cakes required expensive ingredients such as refined sugar, fine flour, and butter. They were labor-intensive to make and decorated with painstaking artistry. In the early 19th century, American cookbook author Catharine Beecher suggested apple bread pudding as a child’s birthday treat — simple, hearty, and inexpensive. However, children’s birthday parties weren’t common celebrations in the U.S. until after the Civil War.

The Industrial Revolution played a decisive role in democratizing cake. As ingredients became cheaper and more widely available, bakeries could mass-produce cakes and sell them at affordable prices. And for home cooks, birthday cakes reached new heights of extravagance by the early 20th century. In 1912, the popular Fannie Farmer Cookbook included a full-page photo of a “Birthday Cake for a Three-Year-Old,” complete with angel cake, white icing, candied rose petals, sliced citron leaves, and sugar-paste cups for candles. These elaborate confections reflected both rising prosperity and a more ambitious form of cake decorating.

Birthday Cake’s Symbolism

Today’s birthday cakes are often simple — such as a frosted sheet cake with a name piped across the top (a tradition that began around the 1940s) — but the symbolism has a long and rich history. Cakes mark abundance, indulgence, and festivity. Candles represent the passage of time, each flame a year lived, each puff a wish cast into the unknown. The act of gathering around the cake, singing together, and celebrating life’s milestones connects us across centuries to ancient rites of gratitude and hope.

From moonlit cheesecakes for Artemis to a 3-year-old’s angel cake in Fannie Farmer’s kitchen, birthday cakes tell a story about how humans celebrate time, community, and the sweetness of life. Every slice is part of a lineage that is both sacred and ordinary — proof that sometimes the simplest rituals carry the deepest history.

• The Strange Origins of Common Food Superstitions
• 5 Toxic Foods People Used To Eat
• 6 Weird Sandwiches People Used To Eat

Yeast Sandwich

A sandwich aficionado by the name of Barry Enderwick has dug up a trove of old cookbooks to recreate forgotten specialties on his "Sandwiches of History" social media channels, and the yeast sandwich is one such bygone dish. Yeast is typically used for the processes of fermenting beer and leavening bread, and it's unusual to find it as a featured ingredient of a dish. But in the 1930s, there was a push on the part of Fleischmann's to promote the nutritional benefits of its product, resulting in an entry in Florence A. Cowles' 1001 Sandwiches (1936). Cowles calls for five drops of "table sauce" to be added to a cake of compressed yeast, with the resulting paste spread on a cracker or bread. Regardless of whether the table sauce was meant to be ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, or another ingredient, this sandwich did little to help the ultimately unsuccessful attempt to enhance American cravings for yeast-filled meals.

Pickle Sandwich

This one's actually a bit of a misnomer. Yes, there are (chopped) pickles in here, but the instructions in 1916's Salads, Sandwiches and Chafing Dish Recipes also call for mixing the brined vegetable with whipped cream, mayonnaise, and grated horseradish, and adding chopped cooked beef to the mixture atop buttered bread. 

Popcorn Sandwich

Popcorn is a popular snack, so why not pair these bite-sized goodies with yummy buttered toast to produce an extra-delectable dish? That seems to have been the idea behind the recipe in 1909's Up-to-Date Sandwich Book, except the dish also calls for readers to add "five boned sardines, a dash of Worcestershire, and enough tomato catsup to form a paste." 

Toast Sandwich

Yes, this is exactly what it sounds like. According to the bestselling Beeton's Book of Household Management from 1861, the recipe simply calls for inserting a piece of cold toast between two slices of buttered bread and seasoning it all with salt and pepper (although the author, Isabella Beeton, helpfully suggests that it could be livened up with slices of meat). While clearly a relic of an era of different tastes, the toast sandwich was revived by the United Kingdom's Royal Society of Chemistry in 2011, and has also surfaced on the menu of the Fat Duck restaurant in Bray, Berkshire, England. 

Mashed Potato Sandwich

This creation, also known as the "Greatest Man Sandwich in the World," is attributed to the one and only Gene Kelly. While it's unclear where the recipe first appeared, or whether it was invented or adopted by the famed performer, it is clear that this sandwich is not for folks looking to limit their carbs. The recipe requires a thick layer of leftover mashed potatoes to be spread on buttered French bread and topped with onion slices, mayonnaise, and a hearty dose of salt and pepper; the product is then browned in a broiler. According to one recipe, it was to be enjoyed with the "nearest mug of beer." 

• Why Do We Eat Cake on Our Birthday?
• The Strange Origins of Common Food Superstitions
• 5 Toxic Foods People Used To Eat

For Centuries, Ice Remained a Luxury

Around the world, chilled beverages were a luxury enjoyed by the wealthy — one that did not become widely accessible for centuries. Around 300 to 400 CE, the Romans imported massive blocks of ice from the Alps, transporting them over long distances to cool drinks and prepare chilled delicacies. This symbol of extravagance was primarily reserved for elite members of society, including Emperor Nero, who was known to be fond of ice-cold refreshments. He ordered ice and snow to be brought down from the mountains and mixed with fruit juices and honey, an early prototype of sorbet.

During the Heian period in Japan (794 to 1185 CE), aristocrats preserved natural ice in underground icehouses known as himuro, allowing them to store and use it during the hot summer months. Historical texts such as the The Pillow Book mention the consumption of ice in the imperial court, emphasizing its exclusivity among the noble class. The government even maintained official icehouses, and records from the period suggest that ice was carefully rationed and distributed among the elite. Unlike in Europe, where ice was primarily used for cooling drinks, in Japan, it was also consumed directly in the form of finely shaved ice, sometimes drizzled with natural sweeteners.

During the European Renaissance, the use of ice in beverages and food was particularly popular in Italy and France. In Italy, ice was harvested from the Alps and transported to cities, where it was stored in underground cellars or specially built icehouses known as neviere. These structures, often insulated with straw or sawdust, allowed ice to be preserved for extended periods. Wealthy households and royal courts used this stored ice to chill drinks, enhancing the dining experience. Records from the 16th century indicate that Italians used ice to cool wines and other beverages, a practice that became increasingly fashionable among the aristocracy.

By the 17th century, the development of ice storage facilities had expanded beyond the nobility, with vendors in Italian cities selling ice or chilled water to customers during the summer months. This period also saw the refinement of frozen desserts, with early recipes for flavored ices and sorbets appearing in Italy and later spreading to France. But the primary function of ice remained its role in cooling beverages, a practice that continued to evolve with advancements in ice harvesting and transportation.

The “Ice King” Helped Make Ice Accessible in the U.S. 

For most of history, ice was difficult to come by, making chilled drinks a rare luxury. That changed in the early 19th century when a Boston businessman named Frederic Tudor saw an opportunity to monetize ice production. Dubbed the "Ice King," Tudor began harvesting ice from frozen ponds on his father’s New England farm, packing it in sawdust and shipping it to warm climates such as the Southern states and the Caribbean islands. His business took off and the modern commercial ice trade was born.

At first, ice was primarily used in bars and hotels catering to the social elite. Cocktails such as the mint julep and sherry cobbler became wildly popular in the United States, served over crushed or shaved ice. The sight of frost-covered glasses became a symbol of sophistication and modernity. By the late 19th century, thanks to improved ice-harvesting techniques and the rise of commercial production, ice became more affordable and accessible in the U.S. Then in the first half of the 20th century, home refrigerators allowed more and more families to store ice, making it possible for iced drinks to become a staple at American dinner tables.

• Why Do We Eat Cake on Our Birthday?
• The Strange Origins of Common Food Superstitions
• 5 Toxic Foods People Used To Eat

The Terrapin’s Territory

With demand for turtle soup surging, overfishing quickly became a problem. The Caribbean sea turtle population rapidly began depleting in the early 1800s. In the U.S., diamondback terrapins from the country’s eastern shores became a popular substitute for sea turtles. Abraham Lincoln even served terrapin stew at his second inauguration in 1865. The dish, according to an 1880 edition of The Washington Post, was “an important part of any Washington dinner laying claim to being a pretentious affair.” 

By the turn of the 20th century, “mock” turtle soup, made with calf’s head instead of turtle meat, had become almost as beloved as the real thing. But the appetite for real turtle soup remained, and overharvesting of turtle populations continued, particularly as canned turtle soup became an increasingly mainstream product. 

The Fall of a Delicacy

When Prohibition started in 1920 and the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol was banned in the U.S., a key ingredient of turtle soup, sherry, was no longer available. What’s more, without alcohol sales, many of the country’s fine dining establishments — the very ones that helped keep turtle soup flourishing among the upper class — struggled to remain open. As they gradually closed, with them went the once-ubiquitous terrapin treat.

In 1973, the Endangered Species Act made it illegal to kill sea turtles in U.S. waters — bad news for turtle soup fans but good news for sea turtles. By 2019, their population had rebounded, increasing by 980%. Even though a vintage recipe for turtle soup remained in a reissue of the classic American cookbook The Joy of Cooking as late as 1997, the hearty dish all but disappeared from menus and dining tables by the 1980s.

• Why Do We Eat Cake on Our Birthday?
• The Strange Origins of Common Food Superstitions
• 5 Toxic Foods People Used To Eat

Baronet Cookies

Introduced at the beginning of the 1960s, Baronet was a vanilla creme sandwich cookie Nabisco advertised in a memorable (if repetitive) jingle as being made with milk and “country good” eggs. The appeal of Baronet cookies was in their approximation of a homemade treat: The shortbread wafers had a natural buttery flavor, and they sandwiched a filling that Nabisco claimed tasted “just like the icing on a cake.” 

While they might sound like a vanilla equivalent of Nabisco’s much more famous Oreos, Baronet cookies weren’t as sweet, and they had a less ornate design than Oreos, with gently scalloped edges and embossed lines radiating from the center of the cookie. They also tended to be a little more economical than Oreos. 

Oreos With Lemon Filling

Though today’s grocery store shelves are stocked with an amount of Oreo variants that stretches the imagination, the cookie was known for decades in a single variety: the classic chocolate wafers with vanilla creme. But when Oreos were introduced in 1912, this wasn’t the only version available; there was also a version with a lemon creme filling. 

Sometimes referred to as lemon meringue, this chocolate-lemon combination is an unusual one for today’s palette, as orange tends to be the more common citrus to pair with chocolate. Then again, perhaps the chocolate-lemon combination was unusual for the early-20th-century palette as well: By the 1920s, the lemon filling was discontinued. Still, considering the sometimes bizarre reaches of today’s Oreo flavor offerings, it’s surprising the chocolate-lemon combination hasn’t made a comeback.    

Keebler Tato Skins

Tato Skins were a potato chip snack introduced by Keebler in 1985. Unlike most potato chips, they were made from dehydrated potato flakes (as opposed to potato slices), which made them somewhat similar to Pringles. But what differentiated Tato Skins from every other potato chip was right there in the name: The ingredients included the skin of the potato, in order to give the snack a taste that approximated a baked potato. The chips even had a rough “skin side” when flipped over. 

Tato Skins initially came in three flavors: cheddar cheese and bacon, sour cream and chives, and “baked potato” (i.e., no seasoning other than salt), with a barbecue flavor added to the lineup in 1987. By 2000, though, the chips had been discontinued — perhaps a victim of cuts during a turbulent era of acquisition and sale from 1996 to 2000. While Keebler’s Tato Skins division was purchased by a company that reintroduced the snack as TGIFridays Potato Skins later in 2000 (thanks to a licensing deal with the eponymous restaurant chain), the newer version was formulated differently from the original.

Jell-O Pudding Pops

Jell-O Pudding Pops were frozen pudding on a stick, first test-marketed on a regional basis in 1978 and introduced nationally during the early 1980s. They were developed by Jell-O parent company General Foods in order to respond to changes in eating patterns during the era. Desserts had been losing ground to portable afternoon snacks, so Pudding Pops were a way to reconfigure General Foods’ Jell-O Pudding as a portable snack. Accordingly, Pudding Pops were originally available in four classic pudding flavors: chocolate, vanilla, banana, and butterscotch. They had a smooth texture that was similar to a Fudgesicle, but with a slightly richer creaminess.

The product was a huge success from a sales standpoint. Five years after entering the market, Pudding Pops were bringing in around $300 million in annual sales. But there was trouble on the back end: Since Jell-O was generally a dry goods company, its manufacturing and distribution processes were not originally equipped to handle frozen foods. As a result, Pudding Pops required added expenditures all along the supply chain, and the snack didn’t reach profitability targets despite the encouraging sales figures. 

By 1994, Pudding Pops had vanished from the freezer aisle. In 2004, Jell-O licensed Pudding Pops to Popsicle, a seemingly ideal partnership for solving the previous supply chain issues. However, Popsicle changed the formulation, using its own molds for the signature narrow and rounded-off Popsicle shape, rather than the wider and flatter shape of the original Pudding Pops. Despite the potential for the relaunched product to take advantage of a market for nostalgia, the Popsicle-branded Pudding Pops never caught on, and were discontinued in 2011.

• Why Do We Eat Cake on Our Birthday?
• The Strange Origins of Common Food Superstitions
• 5 Toxic Foods People Used To Eat