Who Invented The Fluffernutter? Only In Massachusetts

Only In Massachusetts is an occasional series where Patch tries to find answers to questions about life in Massachusetts. Have a question about the Bay State that needs answering? Send it to dave.copeland@patch.com.

The "Fluffernutter" is so synonymous in Massachusetts that a state lawmaker stepped on a public relations landmine in 2006 when he proposed a budget amendment that would have limited the number of times schools could serve it as the main meal at lunch to once per week.

"It seems a little silly to have an amendment on Fluff," then State Sen. Jarrett Barrios said at the time.

In addition to scorn and criticism, his amendment was met by a rival bill that would have made the Fluffernutter the official state sandwich. That bill's sponsor, state Rep. Kathi-Ann Reinstein, represented the district where Fluff is made and vowed to "fight to the death for Fluff." Both sides eventually backed off, agreeing to not bring either initiative up for debate, and neither was reintroduced.

Durkee Mower has been making fluff in Lynn since 1929 using a recipe developed in Somerville in 1917, and its Website has a lengthy history of the product known generically as "marshmallow creme." While Fluff is the only brand readily available in the only region of the country that regular consumes marshmallow creme, there were dozens of New England companies making the white, sticky stuff a century ago.

Durkee Mower holds the registered trademark for "Fluffernutter." But the company history does not mention the origins of the famous sandwich that is equal parts peanut butter and Fluff on two slices of bread, preferably plain white.

That's because the sandwich was invented by a competitor.

Like this article? Sign up for our newsletter and get more like it. It's free!

According to New England Historical Society, we can thank Paul Revere's great, great, great grandchildren for the recipe. Emma Curtis and her brother Armory started selling Snowflake Marshmallow Creme in 1913, with Armory eventually building a factory next to his home on Crystal Street in Melrose. The siblings get credit for developing the first shelf-stable recipe for the stuff.

Emma Curtis's role in the operation was developing recipes to popularize the product. During World War I she published a recipe for a "Liberty Sandwich" made with peanut butter and Snowflake Marshmallow Creme. Within four years the recipe was on the package of the company's products.

Emma died just shy of her 85th birthday in 1948, but the Snowflake Marshmallow Creme company continued until 1962. That was the year an arsonist burned down the factory and the company never recovered.

Marketing innovation seemed to be the hallmark of early 20th century marshmallow creme makers because Allen Durkee and Fred Mower — the two guys from Swampscott who bought the recipe for Marshmallow Fluff from a Somerville confectioner for $500 after World War I — also used recipes to popularize the product.

By the Great Depression Durkee and Mower had moved their company to its current location in Lynn and were sponsoring a radio show called the Flufferettes that aired on 21 stations in New England. The final episode of the variety show featured the Yummy Book, which was full of recipes using Fluff — including a sandwich filled with Fluff and peanut butter.

The name, however, didn't come until 1960, when Durkee-Mower's ad agency came up with "Fluffernutter." The name stuck and helped Durkee Mower outlive all of its regional competitors, as well as at least one attack in the state legislature.

Dave Copeland is Patch's regional editor for Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island and can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).