What is a “Moon Pie”?

11 September 2014

The Short Answer (TSA)

            If you don’t know what a moon pie is, you might want to pay a visit to your local fast food store and browse their snack isle. A MoonPie is made by sandwiching a layer of marshmallow between 2 round graham cracker cookies.  Then, you, dip the sandwich in a flavored coating – usually chocolate. 

            The resulting confection is about 4 inches wide and comes in chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and banana flavors.  Later, the Double Decker MoonPie added another layer of marshmellow and another graham cracker cookie.  Then, the mini MoonPie, which is only about 2 inches wide.  And, finally, the MoonPie Crunch is available in peanut butter and mint flavors.

            The popularity of the MoonPie is regional, so a few readers may have never eaten one.  But, rest assured, the experience is no farther away than the snack isle of your local quick shop or grocery store.

            What is the mysterious connection between this confection and the Moon?  Well, Earl Mitchell, Jr., owner of the Chattanooga Bakery, where MoonPies are made tells the story.   In 1917, his father asked a Kentucky coal miner what kind of snack he’d like to eat.  The miner said that something with both graham crackers and marshmallows would be great -- as long as the final product was dipped in chocolate. 

            The father followed with the final question.  “How big should I make it?”  The coal miner said nothing but, looking up at the sky, framed the full moon with his fingers.  The rest is snack-making history.

            From these humble beginnings, the MoonPie has become deeply embedded in American culture.  At some point, the habit of eating a lunch composed of an RC Cola and a MoonPie became common in some parts of the country.  This inexpensive snack/lunch became famous after being featured as the theme in two popular songs. 

            And, since 2008, how do they celebrate the coming of the New Year in Mobile, Alabama?  By raising (not dropping!) a 12 foot tall lighted moon pie.  And what do the celebrants eat.  You guessed it.  The city has the world’s largest – 55 pound – moon pie baked to feed the crowd.

            Not to be stopped, the MoonPie became a traditional Mardi Gras “throw” (item thrown from parade floats into the crowd) in Mobile, Alabama since 1956.  And the moon pie’s place in Marti Gras parades has spread along the Gulf Coast and made substantial in-roads -- even into Louisiana, but not as far as New Orleans . . . yet.

            Around the world, the MoonPie has also become the traditional snack food eaten at aerospace worker celebrations commemorating the July 20, 1969 Apollo 11 moon walk.

            In fact, the MoonPie is such a success that it’s inspired a host of imitators.  In the U.S. the "Scooter Pie" and “Mallomars” are similar products.  In the UK, Australia and Canada, there are “Wagon Wheels.”  Japan has “Angel Pies.”  South Korean has “Choco Pies.”  A Mexican company makes “Mamut” pies.  Even Turkey has “Halley” pies.  All thinly-disguised “knock-off”s” of the famous, popular and, even, iconic MoonPie.

M Grossmann of Hazelwood, Missouri
(& Belleville, Illinois)
11 September 2014
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