It’s one of the stickiest, sweetest classic campfire treats: the s’more!
Named as such because everyone who enjoys the ooey gooey snack asks for “some more.”
S’mores have been around since the 19th century, and they’re everyone’s favorite camping staple.
They are easy to assemble and they are made from inexpensive ingredients, so there’s no wondering why we’ve embraced them wholeheartedly and keep asking for more.
It’s tricky to pinpoint the exact moment when someone stacked a fire-roasted marshmallow on top of a couple of squares of chocolate and sandwiched the pair between graham crackers, but we do know that after years of making word-of-mouth s’mores, someone finally published an official recipe in 1927 in the Girl Scout Handbook.
S’more Friends
The history of the s’more is a delicious one.
Things like Mallomars and MoonPies paved the way for the camping staple. Mallomars came out 1913, and Moon Pies 1917.
MoonPies and Mallomars both have the same ingredients as s’mores: chocolate, marshmallow, and graham cracker.
Mallomars cookies have a graham cracker core coated in puffy marshmallow surrounded by a crust of dark chocolate.
MoonPies have marshmallow fluff between two graham crackers dipped in a chocolaty coating.
Other graham-chocolate-mallow treat variations on the market today include the Canadian Whippet, the English Marshmallow Teacake, the New Zealand MallowPuff, the Serbian MunchMallow, and the Hebrew Krembo, among many others.
Proof that we as humans universally love these three things together.
That’s why the history of the s’more is, first and foremost, the histories of those three ingredients:
Marshmallow
We’ve been whipping up marshmallows for quite some time; the goo of the roots and stem of the mallow plant—which grows, where else?
In marshes—is sweet and thought to have been used by Ancient Egyptians to candy nuts for royalty.
In the 1800s, the French brought their keen taste to the table. They added egg whites to the sap, whipped it up, and poured the mixture into molds.
Mallow was no longer exclusively in the syrup family; it was in the candy family too!
Further evolution substituted the titular mallow with gelatin and cornstarch, seeing as gathering natural mallow was time consuming and expensive.
1954 was when the official marshmallow shape came about, courtesy of a Chicago man named Alex Doumakes.
Americans top the list in the marshmallow fan club; 90 million pounds of marshmallow are purchased annually.
Marshmallow has found its way into an assortment of candy bars, into cereal, and has even been turned into a spreadable fluff.
This ongoing love affair with marshmallows means that they were already a popular treat around the time we started squishing them together with chocolate and graham.
Chocolate
If you thought marshmallows had a lengthy history, chocolate’s past is equally storied: the ancient Aztecs and Mayans who lived about 2,000 years ago figured out that they could pluck seeds from the North American cacao tree and grind them down to mix with water and make delicious drinks.
They added other native spices to the beverage, giving it a unique and spicy flavor. (You can still buy Mayan chocolate drinks today.)
The drink wasn’t for the commoner; it was for the elite class. The Mayans and Aztecs elevated the cacao seed on an important cultural pedestal, which is probably why the Spanish Conquistadors saw it fit to import cacao into Europe.
Europeans put the sweet twist on the naturally bitter delicacy, completing the transformation from seed to drink to modern chocolate.
One of the biggest chocolate companies is Hershey’s; they found their widespread fame because they adapted the chocolate recipe so that it could be more affordable. (Hershey’s has the highest wax content, and it is rated as the best-tasting chocolate by young adults.)
Hershey’s made chocolate a treat for everyone, not just the wealthy.
At a time when 10 cent movies provided cheap entertainment, it made sense to have treats based on 5 cent candy bars.
Embracing the s’mores craze, sample size Hersey’s bars became marketable as Hersey’s Miniatures by touting them as a tool to make a single-serve s’more.
Graham Crackers
The baby of the trio, the graham cracker, wasn’t invented until 1829.
Health-nut and vegetarian Presbyterian minister Sylvester Graham advocated making flour by combining and then coarsely grinding finely ground wheat flour with wheat bran and germ because of the resulting high fiber flour.
The flour caught on, and it was aptly named after Graham. Predictably, graham flour is the base for Graham crackers.
Alone, graham crackers are very mild, but over time the food industry has adapted them into variations like sugar cinnamon graham crackers, chocolate graham crackers, and honey graham crackers.
Time has brought graham crackers quite a few steps closer to being graham cookies.
These variations erase most of the health benefits Sylvester was in pursuit of, but it makes them even better candidates for s’mores.
Graham crackers are also a popular snack for young children, so it’s an easy transition to include them in a treat the whole family can love.
S’more Sweet Facts
The United States is such an advocate for s’more that August 10th is National S’Mores Day.
In the way of Mallomar and Moon Pies, there are now s’more derivatives, like the Hersey’s S’mores candy bar and the S’mores Pop-Tart.
The United State’s history can be charted through the popularity of s’mores.
Post World War II, the car started to become commonplace, which meant more families were vacationing in national parks and campgrounds. The easy, cheap treat came along for the ride.
In the 50s, families retreated to their own backyards for relaxation, using the cooling grill to roast s’mores after Dad had cooked up dinner.
As soon as modern appliances like electric stoves and microwaves came about, we realized we could make our outdoor treat inside.
To this day, people roast marshmallows over stoves, Bunsen burners, and in the microwave so that s’mores are a year-round treat.
Always Ask for S’more!
S’mores are an idyllic sweet because they combine the sweet, stickiness of marshmallow with the creaminess of chocolate and the crunchy grain of graham crackers.
Three distinct flavors from three different backgrounds plus the nostalgia of a campfire equals a timeless classic.
S’mores found their way into popularity because they were easy to bring along on a camping trip.
They have stayed popular because they’re delicious and fun to make!
So, next time you’re heading out to the woods, don’t forget to pick up your marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate.
You probably won’t need to consult that 1927 recipe for “Some Mores,” but don’t feel ashamed if you immediately ask for some more!
Everybody does.