Fig Newton
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Fig Newton is a brand of fig bar (in Europe, fig roll), cookie pastry filled with fig jam. A trademarked product of Nabisco, Fig Newtons originated in the United States and have since spread across the world. Their unusual shape is a characteristic that has been adopted by many competitors, such as the generic fig bars sold by most supermarkets, and Newman's Own Fig Newmans (an organic variety).
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[edit] History
The Fig Newton was created in 1891 by Charles M. Roser of the Kennedy Biscuit Company, a Massachusetts-based bakery. However, Nabisco maintained for some time that the Fig Newton was invented in 1891 by Philadelphia inventor James Henry Mitchell[1]. There was a rumor that the cookie was named for Sir Isaac Newton, because of his love for "fig tarts" during his lifetime. The cookie is actually named after the Massachusetts city of Newton, which was close to Kennedy Biscuits. Kennedy Biscuits had a tradition of naming cookies and crackers after the surrounding towns near Boston. The name changed from Newton to Fig Newton, after the original fig jam inside the cookie gained good reviews. Later the name changed to Fig Newton Cookies.[1]
The Kennedy Biscuit Company merged with other regional bakeries in 1898 to form the National Biscuit Company, which later became Nabisco. The cookie is now produced by Nabisco. Nabisco was based in Charlottesville, Virginia, until it was purchased by Kraft Foods, Inc., and was relocated to Illinois.
Charles Roser may have invented the technique for encasing the fig jam in a dough wrapper. The machine that makes the cookie consists of a funnel within a funnel. The inner funnel contains the filling, and the outer funnel contains the dough. The machine extrudes the filled cookie, which is then baked, cut into smaller pieces, and packaged. Some UK manufacturers including Jacobs and Crawfords slice the extruded shape before baking giving distinctive rounded ends to the fig rolls.
Recently, Nabisco moved the manufacture of the cookie to Monterrey, Mexico.[2]
[edit] Varieties
Nabisco makes several varieties of the Newton, including Strawberry, Cherries 'n' Cheesecake, Caramel Apple, Raspberry, Cherry, Blueberry, Grape, and Apple Newtons (no relation to Apple Computer's Apple Newton), in addition to the original Fig. The original Fig Newton also comes in a low fat variety and a 100% whole grain variety. Fig Newton Minis were also recently introduced. The cookie is the company's number-three seller at more than a billion a year. Newer packs of Newton products have a "snack and seal" container to keep your fig newtons fresh.
[edit] Advertising and popular culture
In the 1970s, Nabisco ran a tremendously popular 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.
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.
Jacobs Biscuits is its main manufacturer in Europe, advertising with the slogan "How do they get the figs into the fig rolls?".[citation needed]
American advertisements have most frequently featured a narrator with a British accent and other European themes. In the 1980s, Nabisco again produced a 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 is a fruit" to advertise Fig Newtons.
