No one, NO ONE I talk to remembers (or says they remember) the marshmallows of my youth. I am appalled that I was the only one paying attention. NO ONE seems to remember that marshmallows were once a thing of beauty, more solid and much more of an individual thing. Each one was a prize in itself. They had shape, texture and a glee full firmness. Each marshmallow was its own thing, unique and tasty.
They came in a box. There was a row on the top, there was a row on the bottom. You hoped you would get one and you treasured it. You held on to it for a while and thought about how you would eat it. Take it slow, gulp it down or perhaps toast it. And there was a risk to toasting it. You took your time and it was a big deal, at least to me it was.
And then sometime in the 60's marshmallows, like cartoons, comics and many other things that had a richer, more fine history, became commod-i-tized. Stream lined, mass produced. They made them cheaper and in greater quantity. Yes there were more, yes they were cheaper - but now they were no good. Cheap imitations of something that used to be so cool.
For years I have wanted proof. But every time I would bring the subject up I would get glazed over looks from my peers. I guess it happened without them seeing it. Maybe they never knew what they had. Maybe it is more proof of my supposed autistic tendencies. But now I have proof. I may be crazy, but not the kind of crazy that people were trying to pin on me.
It happened, I have proof, real proof - Internet proof.
Here it is:
Marshmallow History
The name marshmallow refers both to the sugary confection as well as to a plant. The 'mallow' plant (Althea Officinalis) is common in Europe. The leaves and roots are both edible but it is the mucilaginous substance from the root from which the early marshmallows were made. Today however the root is no longer used and has been replaced commercially with a gum arabic solution or at home with gelatin. The earliest use of the mallow plant to make a confection dates back to the Egyptians. "The first marshmallows were made by boiling pieces of the marsh mallow root pulp with sugar until it thickened. After is had thickened, the mixture was strained and cooled. As far back as 2000BC, Egyptians combined the marsh mallow root with honey. The candy was reserved for gods and royalty (no wonder I felt so SPECIAL getting one)."The modern version most similar to what we see today was first made in France around 1850 and was called pate de guimauve. Marshmallows were made with the mallow root sap, gelatin, egg whites, corn syrup and water. The boiled mixture was placed in special molds coated in corn starch (to prevent sticking). This process was laborious so the manufacturing technique was changed in the 1900's with the invention of the "starch mogul system".
The marshmallow became very popular in the U.S. from the 1930's to the 1960's. Early on they were a child's candy but later they were seen in cookbooks used for topping cocoa, dessert topping and even in salads.In 1955 there were over 30 marshmallow manufactures in the U.S.
Thanks to one Alex Doumak, ( Thanks?, he ruined EVERYTHING!) marshmallow production changed to an extrusion process which made for rapid, low cost production of the product still sold today.
