The Origin of Fortune Cookies
The origins of the fortune cookie have long been debated. Several possible stories have been put forth. One thing is certain, the modern fortune cookie is so foreign in China that people there require instructions for eating and opening them. Does this Spark an idea?
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Chinese Soldiers in 12th and 13th Centuries
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Some researchers maintain the first "fortune cookies" were cakes used by Chinese solders in the 12th and 13th centuries to conceal messages. These messages were then used to coordinate an uprising that led to the Ming Dynasty.
Makota Hagiwara in 1900
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Others claim this Japanese keeper of the Tea Gardens in Los Angeles invented fortune cookies when he won a dispute with the mayor by sending thank you notes enclosed in rice cookies. Current historical research seems to conclude the tradition's foundations were brought over from Japan.
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David Jung in 1918
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It might be David Jung, a Cantonese baker in Los Angeles, came up with the first modern fortune cookie. He handed out fortune cookies to the poor and the homeless near his bakery. He wanted to give encouraging words and filled the cookies with pieces of Scripture or a proverb.
1930s
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It was during the 1930s that fortune cookie messages made with Bible quotes began to give way to those that incorporated an Anglicized version of Confucian logic.
Edward Louie in 1964
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In 1964, Edward Louie developed a machine that could fold fortune cookies and insert the fortune much faster than could be done by hand. This amplified the already booming fortune cookie industry.
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- Photo Credit Morguefile.com
