from WTAE Pittsburgh:
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — JR Harris' uncle told an employee a story about the origins of the gob. He said a worker for his family's bakery was on break. They were permitted to make and eat anything they wanted to at the bakery. "He had two small chocolate cakes and put icing in between," Harris said. "And then the company saw what he had done and started doing what he did with the gob cake."
The term gob was trademarked in 1927 by the Harris-Boyer bakery. Gobs are inherently part of the fabric of Pennsylvania's culinary landscape. They are also part of New England's food history, but the dessert is known as a Whoopie Pie there. The true origin of the treat may never fully be known, but the historical debate over it is fascinating.,,
,In the 1930s, the sailor-boy image associated with the Johnstown gob was developed for the wrapper.
Gob can also be used as a synonym for sailor, though no one with any knowledge of the company knows if that was why it was given its original name. "Gob" was also used within the mining industry in reference to refuse coal. It is possible that miners gave the dessert its name in the region.
a similar confection is called whoopie pie and has it's origin in Amish cooking. In eastern Pennsylvania it is still known by that name. and a similar confection was backed in Maine
Susan Kalcik, a folklorist and archivist in Johnstown, said the recipe for gobs traces back to Germany in the middle ages. She thinks the recipe was brought to the United States by immigrants.
so why was this popular in Johnstown area?
Regardless of where it was started, it was perfect for coal miners in Somerset and Cambria counties who didn't want their lunchtime dessert's icing to melt on the wrapper. Kalcik said gobs predate any bakery's claim to have created it.
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