Mardi Gras, as everyone in Alabama regularly reminds you, did not originate in New Orleans, USA, but in Mobile, Alabama in 1703 to be exact.
Among the many specific traditions that separate Mardi Gras in Mobile from that of New Orleans is a historic cookie sandwich known as the MoonPie. It is similar to “Melo-cake”, but flatter and rounder. The MoonPie was invented 106 years ago. It all started in 1917 when a traveling salesman asked Kentucky-area miners what kind of snack they’d like to have to go down the mines with them. The miners talked about chocolate, healthy graham crackers and a rather new candy, marshmallows. Then one of them said “hey, make sure it’s that big” and framed the rising moon with his hands. A snack the size of the moon. The vendor made his report and the bakery answered the call with a delicious treat aptly named Mooncake or MoonPie. It was filling, fit in their bowls and the miners loved it.
