Creamy and Crunchy: An Informal History of Peanut Butter, the All-American Food

Jon Krampner

(Allan Dean Walker photo)

Skippy satellite plant in Portsmouth, Virginia; it operated between 1945 and the early '90's. Jif also had a satellite plant in Portsmouth (which also closed in the early '90's), allowing the town for a while to call itself "Peanut Butter Capital of the World."

Peanut plant. Note the twinned pairs of leaves, beautiful orchid-like flower, and sandy loam soil in which it grows best.

The education page on the website of Houston's Peanuts has an animated video showing how peanuts grow. Just go to where it says "Click here to see the birth of a peanut."

Welcome to creamyandcrunchy.com!

This is the website of Jon Krampner, author of the upcoming book, "Creamy and Crunchy: An Informal History of Peanut Butter, the All-American Food." Here you can learn more about peanuts and peanut butter...read an excerpt from the book...peruse the table of contents...take the peanut butter quiz... comment on the blog...contact the author...and maybe even decide to buy the book when it comes out!

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If you'd like to be on my e-mail list (not too many e-mails; I promise!), you can send your name and e-mail address to:
pbj AT creamyandcrunchy.com

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"Peace with lots of peanut butter"

-- Susan Hovey Cohen

SIX SONGS ABOUT PEANUT BUTTER AND FOUR ABOUT PEANUTS

"Peanut Butter" by the Marathons

This classic hit from 1961, almost a note-for-note copy of the version by the Olympics. It features a video from the Georgia Peanut Commission that shows the life cycle of peanut butter from the field to the factory. The standard peanut butter song. Recommended viewing and listening.

It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time!

This wildly popular (almost 5 million hits on YouTube) song irritated me the first few times I listened to it, but the pure zen of it has worn down my resistance. I've thoughtfully posted a version that includes lyrics, as the inner-city dialect gets a bit dense at times.

"Eatin' Goober Peas"

The classic Civil War song about peanuts.

"Peanut Butter Conspiracy" by Jimmy Buffett

A charming and uptempo if morally dubious song about two struggling musicians who survive by stealing peanut butter from convenience stores.

"Me and You and a Dog Named Boo"

Alright, this really isn't a song about peanut butter. But it's alluded to in the chapter about Deaf Smith Peanut Butter, as both are emblematic of the good-natured hippy vibe of the early '70's that I'm increasingly nostalgic for.

"The Ballad of Peanut Butter" by Garrison Keillor

A woebegone (or Wobegon?) sentimental tale of a young man foolish enough to abandon peanut butter for "health food." Click on the "listen" link right below the title and date.

Toot, Toot, Peanut Butter!

A children's song about an unusual way to make peanut butter. Parental advisory: Don't try this at home.

"The Peanut Vendor" ("El Manisero")

Anita O'Day sings this big-band-era classic. Other versions, including those by Louis Armstrong, Stan Kenton, Xavier Cugat, Perez Prado -- even one by Liberace's older brother George -- can be found on YouTube.

"Salt Peanuts" by Dizzie Gillespie

A 1947 performance by Gillespie's band of this bebop-style jazz song

"Peanuts" by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass

A lively instrumental by this popular '60's-era group.