John Dough-Creepier than the Pillsbury Dough Boy?
John Dough raises his chunky, unyielding baguette arm high above him in defiance: Fleischmann’s Yeast now! The physics of such an act need not register here–let us just assume this bread man can raise a large, heavy box of yeast. His vague smile and haunting, shadow eyes recall the Shroud of Turin. His ample belly shows just how puffy Fleischmann’s yeast can make your bread.
Yet does John Dough cross the mascot line from cute to frightening? He reminds me of the antique chef kitchen string holder my mother received from her English grandmother, and hung above the laundry machines–leaving me afraid to reach for clean underwear these many years. A tentative border exists between what lies in the realm of quaint, and what lies in the realm of “belongs in the creepiest attic of your creepiest relative,” perhaps the old lady who smells of moth balls and bay leaves.
More recipes to come from this cookbook, however, John Dough first inspired me. Do you agree? Cute, or frightening?
Source: Fleischmann’s Excellent Recipes for Baking Raised Breads. The Fleischmann Company: 1916.
That chef string holder is WAY creepier than John Dough. I’ll take the baguette arm over string over string out of the mouth. weird!
Yes, I sent that chef thing to my brother. He agrees that we may be scarred for life–especially since that picture is taken from the same angle we may have seen him from as little kids…