spudnuts

[Mike Salovesh]

Bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:

> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ---------------------------------------------
> SPUDNUTS (POTATO DOUGHNUTS)
>
>     "Spudnuts" sounds Russian to me.  The term most surely comes after
> "Sputnik."
>     "Potato Doughnuts," however, have been around a while.

So have Spudnuts. They're an entirely American invention that far
antedates Sputnik.  If I recall correctly, Sputnik was big news in 1957.
Spudnuts were around as a franchise operation going back to the
Depression, at least. (My own earliest clear memory of the Spudnut logo
is associated with events I can date to sometime before 1942, if that
matters.)

No matter what may be happening to the /U/ ~ /u/ contrast in such
settings as "pull", "pool", and their relatives, neither "u" in
"Spudnut" has anything much to do with the lip-rounded high back vowel
in the first syllable of "Sputnik" as it was pronounced in 1957/58
English.  (Another way to point to the Sputnik vowel would be to say
it's like the vowel of "goose", not the vowel of "good".) "Sputnik" came
into English as a Russian name pronounced with what English speakers
would hear as the Russian first vowel.   If anything, the shift to a
schwa which I sometimes hear people use in Sputnik is probably a
spelling pronunciation that owes more to "spudnut" than "spudnut" ever
could owe to 'Sputnik".

Here's a reference to the first hit for "Spudnut" I came up with on a
Metacrawl search.  It comes out of Richland, Washington.  The owners of
this Spudnut Shop got their franchise in 1948:

http://members.tripod.com/krookmcsmile/SpudnutShop.html

> The Spudnut Shop
> Welcome to the Spudnut Shop
>
> Welcome neighbor, to the oldest coffee shop in the city of Richland and the home of the Spudnut.  The Spudnut Shop was established in 1948 by our dad, Barlow Ghirardo, and our uncle, Jerry Bell.  With one $50.00 check they bought a franchise and 100 sacks of spudnut flour.  The shop was originally located in the Richland Wye and operated primarily as a wholesale business.  When the highway was built in 1950 the shop was moved to its present location in Uptown Richland.
>
> Spudnuts are different than doughnuts. For one thing they're made from potato flour and for another they just plain taste better.  We feel that it is only fair to warn you that spudnuts are habit forming.  Eating just one could turn you into a regular customer and one of our life-long friends.  If you're not careful you could find yourself coming in here on a daily basis to chat with friends or just to relax with a cup of coffee, a spudnut and a newspaper.  Before you know it we'll be greeting you by your first name and the waitress will be serving up your favorite spudnut before you even order it.  After a few visits you may get to feel so at home that you start leaving our number on your answering machine.  We know it's scary, but that's the way it's been since Dad first opened up in 1948.  So give your spudnut order the careful consideration that it deserves.  Remember, we're talking about a relationship here.
>
> Thanks for dropping by, we hope you enjoy your visit with us.  We don't know what the rest of today may have in store for you.  It could be a lottery win or a lawsuit.  But, whatever it is, we want you to remember that you can always find friends, refreshment and maybe even a good lawyer here at the Spudnut Shop in Uptown Richland.
>
> Best Wishes,
> Val Driver

-- mike salovesh <salovesh at niu.edu>  PEACE !!!