In the contemporary world there is a great amount of different holidays, some of which seem ordinary, others causes a slight smile on our lips. For example, are you ready to answer exactly the simple question “When is National Fortune Cookie Day in 2024?” immediately or perhaps you need some time for thinking?
Unfortunately, in most cases the most common reply is negative. Why? – The matter is that a great amount of people don’t remember about this notable event existence. And perhaps that is the chief reason for our decision to discover the amazing date in details.
History
Certainly, we understand that nowadays it’s quite difficult to say, what day National Fortune Cookie Day is, not explaining the readers the historical bases of this event.
There’re several versions of the origin of fortune cookies. The famous and popular in certain circles Lau likes the wise and amazing explanation, which were launched with the so-called Ming dynasty. In those days, people gave each other lunar gingerbread with secret messages.
Some researchers believe that the “happiness cookie” comes from Japan – similarly shaped dainties were popular in the Kyoto area. To the US this dessert arrived at the end of the XIX century. Those were the times of Californian “gold rush”.
In China some wandering American missionaries talked a lot about the things, which were happening beyond the huge Pacific Ocean. As a result the most adventurous Chinese came to the US with hidden hope of getting rich on gold. In 1870, these people were almost 11% of the Californian population and about 21% of the state’s workforce. First those men and women worked on farms and helped to build railways. But in 1883, the famous Congress banned with its order the Chinese manual labor, granting as a result the citizenship to all working immigrants from China. Because of this, many Chinese guys and ladies went to work to the so-called service sector. A large amount of them opened laundries and restaurants.
Approximately at the same time, other people, the Japanese, started to come to the United States, either. Many Californian Japanese also worked in the service sector. The matter is that at the beginning of the twentieth century, they realized that their own cuisine was really rather exotic for Americans, so they decided to open Chinese restaurants, that had been already popular in California. The Japanese introduced some amazing traditions. It is for sure not possible to discover who exactly invented the cookies with predictions, however, it can be precisely said that the contemporary version is the result of the fusion of Japanese and Chinese cultures.
Everything changed after the Japanese attack on the famous Pearl Harbor. President Roosevelt ordered the creation of camps for Japanese Americans. A great amount of restaurants of Japanese owners were closed. It happened that the cookies involved mysterious predictions suddenly ceased to be considered Japanese and began to be considered a Chinese product.
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During the Second World War, the demand for this category of biscuits grew. Soldiers returning from California to other States, carried them as souvenirs. So this delicacy spread to the whole US territory and became a recognizable symbol of the Chinese community of the country.
Meaning
What does Fortune Cookie Day mean? Certainly, it’s up to you to decide, but we would like to mention that almost all luxurious restaurants offer these so called “fortune cookies”, proposed to visitors after the main courses. The sweets have had a long history they are older than 100 years old now.
Nowadays the story of this unique dessert can do a sharp turn. Why? – The problem is that the main writer of predictions, Donald Lau, who worked in Wonton Food, the largest and the most significant the fortune cookies US manufacturer, retired in early February. Up to the very present moment the administration hasn’t been ready to answer, who will take this post.
The factory, arranged in Brooklyn NY, makes up to 4.6 million pieces per day.
We can’t but mention that the chief prediction creator for the previous 30 years was Donald Lau, was a former rather talented banker. But if earlier he composed 100 forecasts per year, at the end of the career he managed to cope only with a few dozen. “I have a creative crisis,” says Lau, who 30 years ago was chosen to write predictions for a factory in Brooklyn not because of his writing talent, but because he knew English better than all the company’s employees when it was founded.
After Lau’s departure, his place was taken by James Wong, whom the famous predecessor had been preparing for half a year. Wong, who is the founder’s nephew, is 43 years old that is he is young enough for this profession.
Definition
There are pieces of information, which will help us to reply “What is the date of National Fortune Cookie Day 2024?” properly.
First of all we have to mention that a small biscuit with predictions is considered an exclusively US phenomenon. In the 1990s, Wonton Food tried to enter the Chinese market, but unfortunately he failed. The Chinese, for whom that kind of product was unfamiliar, were constantly eating paper with a forecast, so all the attempts were ridiculous and unsuccessful. Americans, vice versa, according to the research, often leave the cookies uneaten after reading the prediction (approximately 25% of consumers). This’s surprising phenomenon.
Experts believe that the history of China is to blame. In 1950-1960, the harsh communist government regulated even what the Chinese were eating. Due to “reforms” people often lacked the usual rice, so when several decades later, cookies with predictions came to China, many people perceived it as an unnecessary and incomprehensible subject of luxury. Even today, when the local economy is developing at a rapid pace, cookies have not become popular there.
Traditions
When is Fortune Cookie Day in 2024, calendar will remind you without any difficulties, but have you already find the way to celebrate September 13?
It is a real pity, however, there’re no any particular rules and customs for this event. However, that isn’t a serious problem for those guys and ladies, who have a perfect imagination. Why? – The matter solving is that you’re always able to invent and to create something amazing for you personally, your beloved family, close friends or colleagues from work.
What about a tea party? Fortune cookies will be quite suitable for this event.
The recipe for these cookies preparation is pretty simple. You may easily cook them at home, amusing the guests or kids or buy at the shops.
Of course, the first thing to do is to use your imagination or to get ready-made texts of predictions.
There are two basic options how to bake fortune cookies: prediction is placed inside raw biscuits and baked in the oven, or is put into the finished cookies. If you chose the first variant, you need to use a foil that will protect the paper from heat.
Fortune Cookie Day Facts
So you have already found out the answer to the question “When is International Fortune Cookie Day 2024?” but would you like to know some additional pieces of information as to this theme?
Cookies with funny and serious predictions have firmly gained a huge popularity in the western countries and are fondly loved in many European families. As a rule, there’s a great variety of them.
You see, if you treat your amused colleagues and astonished business partners with these delicacies, you’ll see how they will relax and their mood will improve in a very minute! More topics will fill up the conversations, and new ideas may also appear.
Nowadays fortune cookies are an excellent gift to a close friend, a mate, a mate from office and visitors of an institution of any kind.
