So you want to go into the Donut Business?

So you want to go into the Donut Business?

Peter Harrington’s quirkiest recent acquisition, this is a pamphlet produced by the Doughnut Corporation of America just after World War II. Aimed at returning servicemen in search of business opportunities, it explains in detail how they can open their own shop using automatic doughnut machines and mixes produced by the DCA.

According to the introduction:

It is but natural that the great activity of the good old American donut in this World War II where fresh cooked donuts (made in automatic machines) followed our boys on all battle fronts, often close to the front lines… should prompt the Service Men to investigate the possibilities with donuts in civilian life.

The pamphlet opens with images of fighting men enjoying “a taste of home and the pleasant things they left behind”. (Click to enlarge.)

The Doughnut Corporation of America was founded during the inter-war years by Adolph Levitt, who owned a chain of bakeries. Seeing potential in the doughnut business he invested in the development of an automatic doughnut machine that could be sold to independent shops, and in 1925 he began offering the first standardized mixes for the machines with trade names such as Downyflake and Mayflower. (His was also the first company to use the spelling variation “donut”.)

The DCA soon monopolized American doughnut production, as this November 1940 article in TIME points out:

U. S. doughnut sales were estimated at some $78,000,0000 last year (up from $5,000,000 in 1920), and 80% of these doughnuts were made on Doughnut Corp. machines. More than 30% were also made from Doughnut Corp. mix. Its largest factory (in Ellicott City, Md.) operates now 20 hours a day, has some 2,000 employes. Doughnut Corp. is boss of the doughnut world.

The back of the pamphlet definitely gives the impression of a monolithic corporation:

The figures on doughnut production mentioned in the TIME article above may have come directly from the DCA, as they offer the same ones at the beginning of the pamphlet:

The bulk of the pamphlet is composed of questions and answers about doughnut retail sales – 75 questions in total, with an index! They range from the basic:

… to more complex issues such as location, operating costs, doughnut output, potential profits, and the running of the doughnut machines, making the pamphlet an interesting historical document. This page gives an idea of doughnut shop operating costs in 1944, with an estimated profit per dozen of 11 cents.

Below, the doughnut machine, which could make 480 doughnuts per hour. An early example of the shift to mechanized and processed food that began in earnest in the 1950s:

In addition to serving a practical purpose, the machines were marketing tools that generated visual interest in shop windows, and the use of national trade names  and corporate marketing materials presaged the rise of  fast food and the corporatization of eating.

One of the best things about the pamphlet is that many of the pages are decorated with photos of real doughnut shops and lunch counters. A fantastic look at period style and the design of eateries. Though I have my doubts about the pineapple doughnuts advertised in the second picture.