Who Invented S’mores?

Contrary to what you may have read elsewhere, we don’t know who invented "Some-mores," the treat later renamed to "S’mores." Here’s what we know.

The earliest recorded mention of s’mores appears in a 1925 news article titled Patrol Leaders Have Outing: Fall Plans Discussed And "Camp Andree Dishes" Introduced.

This article was in the September 9, 1925, edition of The Norwalk Hour:

At the supper, two Camp Andree "dishes"—"Kabobs" and "Some-mores"—were introduced. . . . "Some-mores" consist of a graham cracker on which is placed a piece of Hershey chocolate, a toasted marshmallow, another piece of chocolate and a graham cracker.

According to the story, a group of Girl Scout troop leaders met in 1925 at a camp just north of New York City and feasted on kabobs and s’mores. Sounds like a great time to me!

Misinformation around the invention of s’mores

I must admit that my own recipe for campfire s’mores used to mention Loretta Scott Crew as the author of the first recorded recipe for "Some More":

The first published recipe for s’mores comes from Loretta Scott Crew and the
Girl Scouts, who published the recipe for “Some More” in a 1927 publication of
Tramping and Trailing with the Girl Scouts

Fail! As it turns out, I was wrong about 2 common aspects of this story.

1. S’mores weren’t invented by Loretta Scott Crew

There used to be a page on Wikipedia about a Girl Scout troop leader named Loretta Scott Crew, who supposedly penned an early recipe for "Some More" in a 1927 issue of Tramping and Trailing with the Girl Scouts.

As it turns out, no one can find proof that Loretta Scott Crew existed, and her name is not mentioned in the Tramping and Trailing recipe that everyone loves to reference. The page about Loretta on Wikipedia was ultimately removed for this reason.

A mighty echo chamber of references to Loretta Scott Crew ultimately point back to a 2009 book by Lisa Lillen called Hungry Girl. (She likely referenced Wikipedia for this fact.) Someone named Meg Diamond claims that all of this is the result of a hoax on Wikipedia.

I’m no longer touching this fact with a ten foot pole. Color me reformed. Fortunately, there’s a second reason that lets us side-step this entire debacle.

2. The earliest recorded reference was earlier than 1927

"Some-mores" were mentioned in the 1925 Norwalk Hour article that I introduced earler in this post.

I’ve seen speculation that "Some-mores" may have been invented at Camp Andree between 1921 and 1925. Perhaps. The Norwalk Hour article mentions that s’mores were "introduced" at the camp, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it was invented there.

Rest easy: the truth is out there

As your friendly neighborhood s’more-sherpa, I definitely felt bamboozled when I ran across all of this.

We all need an occasional reminder that a cursory Google search can lead to misinformation. Wikipedia is susceptible to this as well.

I’m a firm believer that the truth will always come to light (eventually). My solution? Let’s gorge on toasted marshmallows until that time arrives.

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