Ruth Graves Wakefield
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Ruth Graves Wakefield (June 17, 1903-January 10, 1977) was the inventor of the Toll House Cookie, the first chocolate chip cookie. She later became an author.
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[edit] Education, The Toll House Inn
Ruth Wakefield graduated from the Department of Household Arts of Framingham State Normal School in Framingham, Massachusetts in the Class of 1924. She worked as a dietitian and lectured about foods.
In 1930, she and her husband Kenneth bought a tourist lodge near Whitman, Massachusetts. It had been built in 1709 and had a rich history of providing a night's solace to weary travelers. Located about halfway between Boston and New Bedford, it was a place where had passengers had historically paid a toll, changed horses and ate much-welcomed home-cooked meals.
When the Wakefields opened their business, they named the establishment the Toll House Inn and took it upon themselves to uphold the lodge's tradition. Ruth cooked all the food served and soon gained local fame for her desserts.
[edit] The "accident" that changed her life
One day while cooking a dessert that had been a favorite, the Butter Drop Do Cookie, she realized she was out of baking chocolate, and instead substituted a broken-up bar of semi-sweet chocolate made by the Nestlé company. The broken bits did not melt as expected, however, and merely softened. The cookie was a hit right away, and Ruth soon contacted the Nestlé and they struck a deal: The company would print her recipe on the cover of all their semi-sweet chocolate bars, and she would get a lifetime supply of chocolate. Nestlé soon began marketing chocolate chips especially used for cookies.
[edit] Heritage
Ruth wrote a cookbook, Toll House Tried and True Recipes, in 1940.
Ruth died in 1977, and the Toll House Inn burned down New Year's Eve of 1984. Although there are many manufacturers of chocolate chips today, the agreement to publish the recipe of Ruth Graves Wakefield on the back of each Nestlé Toll House chocolate bar package is still honored in the 21st century.
The Wakefield Cookbook Collection at Framingham State College was donated to the school by Ruth Graves Wakefield.
