22. George Washington Carver and peanut butter
George Washington Carver has long been called the inventor of a ubiquitous product in American life, peanut butter. Carver was an agricultural scientist of note, contributing innovations in crop rotations and the reduction of soil erosion. He did produce more than 100 recipes for food items using peanuts, which he distributed to farmers through what he called his practical bulletins. He also researched the use of peanuts in other products, none of which brought financial success. From 1915 to 1923, while at Tuskegee Institute, he experimented with alternative uses for several foods including soybeans, pecans and other tree nuts, sweet potatoes, and legumes. But he did not invent peanut butter.
Although evidence of grinding nuts into a paste dates to the ancient Aztecs in the Americas, it was a Canadian, Marcellus Edson, who obtained the first American patent for milling roasted peanuts into a paste, which he mixed with sugar. Cereal magnate John Kellogg patented a form of peanut butter (made from boiled peanuts) in 1898. Several Kellogg employees developed recipes of their own and marketed them under differing names after leaving the cereal company. By the 1930s nationally known brands emerged, including Peter Pan (1928) and Skippy (1932). Today, the United States Peanut Butter Board includes a statement on their website which reads, “Contrary to popular belief, George Washington Carver did not invent peanut butter”.