Why Were Graham Crackers Invented? The Bizarre Truth Behind Viral ...

A new trend has started on Twitter and TikTok, and it revolves around the origins of the humble Graham cracker.

Today, the crackers are normally honey or cinnamon flavoured, and are most commonly used to make s’mores.

But they date all the way back to the 1800s, and many people are just now discovering how they came to be.

Twitter and TikTok users are telling people to google why they were invented. The results are more surprising – and more interesting – than you might think.

https://twitter.com/beingtrish/status/1346615052091047936

Why were Graham crackers invented?

Graham crackers were invented as a method to stop people experiencing sexual desires. Yes, really.

The man behind them was one Reverend Sylvester Graham, a Presbyterian minister who became obsessed with healthy living, and the idea that sexual desire was sinful and could even cause physical ailments.

Reverend Graham believed that lust could cause such serious issues as epilepsy and spinal disease, and even the early death of offspring. Many people followed him and shared his views.

Graham crackers were invented to stop sexual urges and desires because the inventor Reverend Sylvester Graham believed that eating meat and fat led to sexual excess. This may be one of the stupidest google searches to grace my phone 😐

— TGB 🧸𓋹 (@DaDirtyNorth) January 13, 2021

He also believed diet was key in repressing these ideas. He advocated for a strictly vegetarian diet, high in fibre. He thought meat and fat increased lust, and was extremely anti refined white flour, instead favouring unsifted wheat flour.

This preference led him to create “Graham bread”, made with unsifted flour. This in turn spawned the Graham cracker.

It is disputed whether Revered Graham himself actually invented the Graham cracker. Some sources says he did so in 1829, whereas others say it did not exist until 1882, 31 years after his death.

Either way, he was a key influence behind it, and the crackers still bear his name today.

They are now made with bleached white flour, contrary to all Reverend Graham’s belief, and sweetly flavoured.

Reactions to trend

Hundreds of thousands of people have been searching the origins of Graham crackers since the trend started.

One Twitter user posted: “After googling why Graham crackers were invented I feel bad for feeding them to my Sunday school students.”

https://twitter.com/twilz517/status/1347852242473295872

Another added: “Just googled why graham crackers were invented… I might need to buy a pack I guess.”