I found this particular edition very interesting since I spent my early years working in my father's peanut fields. In the Summer my older sister, brother, and I would hoe the weeds out of the fields. This was a hot relentless job, and as soon as you were through with one field you started another. This was an endless cycle that kept us busy from dawn to late in the evening every day. When fall came my father would dig the peanuts by pulling a plow behind the tractor that turned the plants up, where the peanuts were on top. This was a dangerous time, because a murder of crows could eat your entire years profit in short order. This was when we sat out in the field with a .22 caliber rifle, and a case of bullets, and kept the crows from eating the exposed crop. This exercise was known as herding crows, and I don't know who came up with that name. After the peanuts had dried sufficiently it was time to thrash them. This was a large machine pulled behind the tractor that swept up the dried peanut plants, and separated the peanut from the trash. The trash was left in the field, and the peanuts came down a chute where two burlap sacks were hanging. When one sack got full you flipped the valve over to fill the other sack, and tie the top of the full sack, and kick it off the thrasher. This was a very dusty job, and dirt got packed in your nose, and ears even with a mask. Once the thrashing was done, and the peanuts were in large burlap sacks laying in the fields it was time to stack the sacks. You would drag three sacks together, and lean them together where air could circulate around the sacks so they wouldn't mold until they could dry more. Every several days you rotate the sacks that are stacked so they don't mold where they sit. Once the sacks are ready they are hauled out of the field, and usually to the peanut mill to sell. (I have hauled a lot of hay, as well as peanuts in my time, and the peanuts are by far heavier, and harder to handle than hay bales.) However my father was an inventive sort, and stripped an old combine of parts, and made a peanut shaker. Instead we hauled the peanuts to the house, and stacked them so we could open each sack, and pour it on the shaker. This shaker would separate the peanut from the dirt, and other trash.(clean peanuts brought more when sold). The peanuts were then resacked, and hauled to the peanut mill to sell. As a child the highlight of this was the homemade peanut brittle, and the oven roasted peanuts My mother made. It's hard to eat peanuts now, and not think of all the work that we used to do to raise, harvest, and sell our crop.

I'll be 59 next month and I can remember vending machine peanuts when I was a really little girl. You know because when little kids see a vending machine we want what's in them lol

I love peanuts. So much so that as a child I decided to grow my own. Spent the spring and summer carefully tending my one plant. Harvesting time i eagerly anticipated eating fresh from the ground peanuts!!.......2 pods totaling 4 nuts? Went across the street and bought a Planters peanut packet 10 cents. Thus ending my Farmer career. ;}

My dad has farmed peanuts for over 40 years. I can’t wait to share this with him.

My mom was from West Virginia, and she brought something back that was really tasty-- grilled PB&J. Used to eat it as a kid. Simple, just sourdough bread grilled with butter like a grilled cheese sandwich. The crispness of the grilled bread, mixed with the sweetness of jam and the saltiness of the peanut butter was pretty amazing!

My favorite breakfast, eaten almost daily: crunchy peanut butter on toast, washed down with coffee, cream & sugar...yum! Still going strong in my 70's!

As a long retired general pediatrician in northern California, I just really appreciated this sketch. Thank you so much.

George Washington Carver was a great man for his contribution to the use of peanuts. Not only did he found so many ways to use peanuts but also discovered other uses for soybeans and sweet potatoes and was sort of an American "DaVinci". What's so amazing about him was that despite the fame he was known for, he kept himself humble to the end. His tombstone epithet states, "He could have added fortune to fame, but caring for neither, he found happiness and honor in being helpful to the world." Truly a very remarkable man.

Ive never heard the word "fluffernutter" said before with so much reverence.

If I had been allergic to peanuts, I would have starved to death as a child. Peanut butter was pretty much the only thing I’d eat by choice. It’s still my favorite food, more than 50 years later.

For several decades my family has enjoyed singing around a campfire the song "Goober Peas" ! It goes as such during the chorus ' peas, peas, peas, peas, eating goober peas, goodness how delicious, eating Goober peas!' There are multiple verses which I'll try to DM you. Or look it up. It's a been a family favorite.....well, since I can remember! And I'm told by my father, that it was a civil war era tune. 😂😂 and then you mention it in the next segment, excellent! And the legacy continues! 👍😉😂😂

One of my most vivid childhood traumas involved a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich, I flew from Hong Kong to England for a kids summer camp at age 8. The day before the first outing we were asked what sandwich we wanted for the packed lunch. I asked for Peanut Butter and Jelly and the camp leader asked me why I would want that, I replied I always have it. The next day I opened my packed lunch to find a Peanut Butter and JELLO sandwich. I asked the leader why, she replied "It's exactly what you asked for. Now eat it!" I found out that in England Jelly is JELLO and I should have asked for Jam in the sandwich. I also learned the leader didn't like me, the American accented British kid. I wasn't even allowed to take the JELLO out of the sandwich and forced to eat it. As a privileged 8-year-old, it certainly felt traumatic.

Poked around the comments, didn't see my favorite combo mentioned, that is peanut butter and honey. I have been baking bread for a long time, make my own sourdough bread. When it's cool enough to slice, P&H on warm sourdough is a slice of heaven!

Oh what fond memories of going to Hyannis Massachusetts on vacation and walking down the street and smelling fresh roasted peanuts coming from the planters peanut store, the one with the peanut wearing a top hat and monocle and cane. And the taste of those fresh roasted nuts was heavenly!! Or the ball park or circus....times long since past and forgotten,sadly.

Here is a fun fact: In Enterprise Alabama there is a monument to the Boll Weevil, the pest that wiped out local cotton crops and "forced" the switch to peanuts, and yes thanks to GWC, the rest is history!

Great photo images. I and my 5 brothers and sisters were among those farm children who spent their summers from sunup to sundown in the middle 40 acres of peanuts. As soon as school year ended and we got off the bus for the last time, seems that the next day we would sharpen our hoes and go to weeding those little commercial plants. The sun was hot, the gnats were in our faces, and there was a jug of ice water at the end of the row. After a month we had to put down our hoes and resort to pulling up the weeds (cockleburrs, coffee weeds and buffalo grass) by hand combat. Not only was it backbreaking work, but our hands developed thick black and green callouses. When I was young, the farmers would plow beneath the peanut vines with a wide blade, then the vines would be pulled up sometimes by hand and stacked by pitchfork onto bean poles like haystacks. A threshing machine would be dragged up to the stack and the crop would be fed by pitchfork into the machine. But a few years later the technology improved. The vines were plowed up by a tractor-powered "peanut shaker" which left the peanuts in windrows where they would dry. The peanut combine pulled by a tractor would travel up and down the rows consuming the vines, threshing out the peanuts and spewing the vines out the back -- and creating a massive choking cloud of dust. On the combine's side was a small platform where my brother and I sacked the peanuts. Two burlap sacks hung on the the mouth of the chute. When one bag was filled, we threw the flapper valve to fill the other bag and stacked the full bags around and above us on the platform until we stopped at the end of the row and stacked them off. Those stacks of bagged peanuts would then be thrown by hand up into a two-ton truck to be hauled to market. I've been gone from the farm for 50 years. The development of herbicides means no farm children spend their summers swatting gnats and pulling weeds in the hot sun. Nowadays my farming brother operates the peanut combine from inside the air-conditioned cab of his tractor. The combine sends the threshed peanuts up into a large hopper. And when full the hopper is dumped using hydraulic piston power into the trailers. But, as I say, it was good hard work.

Even the humble peanut deserves to be remembered.

Peanut butter was invented by someone who, like me, had their own teeth, but couldn't remember where they'd left them.... Thanks THG.

Peanut butter and cream cheese sounds wonderful! As a kid, I remember my grandmother making us peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwiches, and a friend of hers made peanut butter and American cheese sandwiches. Perhaps the trauma of eating those variations has blocked my memory of them. My all-time favorite was peanut butter with honey, bananas and raisins.

Way back in the 1960's, Peanut butter was also a common "Fall-out Shelter" food! In the basement of my Elementary School was tons of emergency food. Much of that was Peanut based! There were many, many cases of Peanut butter too!

Thank you so much for your content. I don’t know how the pandemic will play out, but your content helps keep us sane. Perhaps, sometime in the future a historian will mention a guy in a bow tie, who worked in his basement- and managed to remind the world about what it means to be human.

This brought back memories of writing my first term paper many years ago. Before a peanut farmer became president, when a comic about Charlie Brown and his friends was popular, in 8th grade I wrote "Peanuts". Everybody upon hearing the title assumed it waa about Charles Schultz's creation. In my young mind it was a clever misdirection. I earned an "A". My teacher said it could've been "A+"but my typing was atrocious. Thanks for your wonderful forays into our past.

The mention of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups reminded me of working with a man who was tasked with the job of designing the machinery to pick up the finished candy and placing it in position for the final packaging. They originally used a vacuum system to pick up the finished candy, but if it wasn't adjusted exactly right and the candy was too soft, it would end up sucking the candy up into the tooling rather than just picking it up. That's one of those little curiosities that you just don't normally think of. Another excellent video! I've got a row of peanuts growing in my garden now.

Three juveniles were brought before a judge. The judge asked the first boy why he'd been brought into the courtroom today. "I threw peanuts into the elephant pen". The judge asked the second boy why he was in court, and the boy replied " I threw peanuts into the elephant pen". The judge asked the same question of the third boy, who was a foot and a half shorter than the others. "I'm Peanuts", came the reply.

Would love to see at least a mention of “boiled peanuts “. A delicacy in the South as well as a historical footnote to the survival of the Confederate families during the War!

Thank you, that was great history that deserves to be remembered, Years ago I read an article about nutrition and national disasters . It recommended peanut butter, you can literally “Live off of it.” It is a non refrigerated highly nutritional food with high protein . It goes everywhere in its very rugged plastic container jars that last months once opened with no fridge requirements. It is a great back pack food.

I'm surprised you didn't mention President Carter's peanut farm. That's history that deserves to be remembered.

"Pay peanuts, get monkeys." One of the favourite foods of the 'prepper' movement because it's cheap, high calorie and lasts for years if left sealed (i.e. good for underground caches.) Excellent episode as always!

Hard to imagine a world without peanuts.

I saw the title and thought we were going to learn about Charlie Brown and Snoopy. Hey, THAT's some history that deserves to be remembered!

I appreciate the vigor that THG approaches seemingly mundane topics. Indeed we learn that there is nothing mundane at all about our world. I pray you can continue these awesome videos for many many years to come.

I'm always annoyed when my bag of "mixed nuts" turns out to be more the 50% peanuts.

PB&J washed down with an ice cold tall glass of milk. Heaven!

You mentioned "sliced bread" becoming the norm in the 1920's. My thought was that sliced bread was born near me in Chillicothe, MO in 1928. Available at quality grocers. The sliced bread capital of the world. Population 9500.

My daughter knows how much I love peanuts in shell that she gifted me last Christmas three big bags of them! :) Another great video! Thank you!

Fun Fact: More peanuts travel through Lexington KY than any other city in the world. It is home to the JIF Peanut Butter factory and is the largest producer of peanut butter in the world

I quickly read the History Guy intro under the video and thought it said "how peanuts have pleased PIRATES throughout history" and I thought: This will be spectacular. LOL

I used to live in Goobertown, Arkansas. Sadly everyone moved away and they took the post office and town consideration away so it is no more🤦‍♀️

Only The History Guy can make even peanuts fascinating. You never cease to amaze me.

The movie "The Road To Wellville" is a masterpiece, speaking of Kellogg.

Thanks for this video and Thanks to all of you who shared your farming experiences. My mom used to gather cotton as a young teenager in the 30s, but she hated talking about it. She only said it was very hot, dirty and exhausting. I think I understood what she meant when I saw the movie Places in the Heart. Many thanks to all who worked the fields in the past and those who have followed them. God bless you all for putting food on our tables.

Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't.

Thank you for bringing the idea of mixing cream cheese, peanut butter, and waffles to light. I will have to try that... I tend to mix a few spoon fulls of crunchy peanut butter into pan fried veggies. A few drops of sesame oil, a solid dash of ginger powder plus a few other spices, and golden raisins make for a tasty stir fry.

Wonderful item. I love peanut butter and eat it every day. My family name is Chandler and I am from Canada so I was pleased to hear that the first patent for peanut butter was given to a Canadian from Montreal in 1884. I was doubly pleased to find that Julia Chandler published a recipe for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in 1901. My all time favourite peanut butter is the Smucker's Natural variety and although I have tried peanut butter all over the world, I have never found one to beat it. You have to stir the oil back in to the mix before using it, but it is well worth the trouble. Keep this kind of thing coming.

Such an interesting video! By the way, in India, it's still popularly called 'Groundnuts'. We also use Groundnut Oil in our cooking.

Given that I like Reese’s cups, snickers, and planter peanuts, you could say that I should be appreciative of the South Americans, John Harvey Kellogg, and George Washington Carver given their contributions to this legume.

Hey Playboy, that presentation was extra smooth and creamy ! Damn Skippy I'm with it!

8:56 I'll try cream cheese and peanut butter the next time I have waffles.

Interesting and informative as usual, I really enjoy your videos, thank you. Just wanted to say that peanut butter with jelly is not such a usual combination here in Britain. Most people here use it as a savoury spread, maybe American food is more closely related to traditional German tastes. My favourite breakfast is toast with peanut butter, yeast extract and a chopped bird’s eye chilli. Wakes me up fast!

The nitrogen-fixing ability of legumes is overstated. Because feeding the fixing rhizobia bacteria costs the plant, it will take up soil nitrogen first (in the form of ammonia, nitrate, or nitrite). If the crop is removed, the nitrogen goes with it, whether fixed or from the soil. The only way to get legume-fixed nitrogen into the soil is to plow down the crop without harvesting it, which is what the old advice was.

Don't know how I missed this episode for nearly a year! Your last observations by the doctor who utilizes peanut butter in treating malnourished children could have tied to the widespread use of a peanut-based paste, "Plumpy Nut" (and similar products) in treating famine and malnutrition globally. Invented in 1996 by a French nutritionist, it has saved the lives of millions of adults and children both.

My wife ran a non-denomination Christian mission on the Pine Ridge Sioux reservation in Wanblee, SD. The indians got food supplements from the government. Shortly after Jimmy Carter took office the Sioux started getting large cans of low quality peanut butter in the federal food supplements. They could not eat it and it went into the dump. My wife's mission had a pony for the kids that stayed there. My wife collected the cans. The pony loved the peanut butter.

A suggestion for a future episode: "The best thing since ...." Certain inventions and introductions are regarded as milestones. Examples: "Best thing since sliced bread!" (1920 introduction of pre-sliced bread loaves) ; "As important as the invention of the wheel" (prehistory) ; Invention of the plow or plough (wood then steel) creating a "green revolution" of the time. Thank you, Your loyal follower and viewer.

Man, this video is nuts.

Man, fluffernutters where my childhood. When I moved out of new england and moved to texas it blew me away how no one knew what it was.

Fluffernutters are still a popular thing in Massachusetts. They actually even have an annual Fluffernutter Festival.

Don't forget that President Jimmy Carter was a peanut farmer. I'm surprised that wasn't mentioned, nor the spectacular failure of the Tanganyka Groundnut Scheme in the 50s.

I can't imagine making peanut butter with a mortar & pestle. That had to have taken forever!

Sitting down and spending time shelling peanuts is one of my favorite hobbies.

I've always been a little nutz about nuts. Peanuts, walnuts, almonds (pronounced ah-mond or al-mond, depending on regional upbringing lol), hazelnuts, pecans and my personal favorite, the Brazil nut. And, of course, I eat plenty of peanut butter, particularly w/ apples and bananas and always shared w/ my Bull Terrier, Malcolm. My family always has a bowl full of mixed nuts during the holidays and its fun to see which nuts go first and who likes which nut more than others. As mentioned, I went after the Brazil nuts, but my sisters went after the pecans and walnuts. Mother went for the hazelnuts and Pop went for the venerable peanuts. It was my job to keep the bowl full and remove the empty shells. I'd refill that big wooden bowl easily twice a week.

Interestingly, many other countries have no connection at all between elephants and peanuts. It seems that's another one of P.T. Barnum's legacies.

One of my favorite sandwiches remains, Peanut Butter/Mayonnaise/Bacon, on whole wheat bread, preferably Wonder Bread.

Just want to say that, via The History Guy, I now have a subscription to the Magellan channel. By far, it is, in my opinion, the best channel of all the offerings of Roku. In fact, can't think of a better way to binge during the Corona Virus.

My son would not eat anything but peanut butter during his third or fourth year of age. His mother hid all sorts of healthy foods but he wouldn't have any of it. We were needlessly worried. He is now 6 ft 3 and in terrific shape in his fourties. Great episode.

You are the best channel on KZfaq. Keep it up!

My favorite thing about this, is that peanuts were called goobers. Thank you.

Two things to tell you here. 1st, I’m from Boston and have been eating Fluffenutter sandwiches for over 55 years. In 1979 I was in college in Milwaukee and wanted one but there was no Marshmallow Fluff (trademarked) the whipped marshmallow spread that is the fluff in that sandwich’s name. I did not realize that it was a local treat. While searching I found Kraft Marshmallow topping for ice cream. On the back of the jar was a recipe for the “Boston Marshmallow Sandwich”. When I tried to entice my roommate to try it he thought I was insane. 2nd I had two aunts who lived with my family. They born at the start of twentieth century. When they passed and we were cleaning out their things, I found a copy of a cook book published by the Boston Cooking School. I still have tucked away although the pages are quite brittle. It is an interesting read and parts are a sting remainder of how far we have come in last century. It talks about flour for the home in terms of barrels. Tells the reader of the importance of having bread at every meal and when giving directions on baking that bread cautions that you must build a fire in the stove to give an even heat for time required for the baking.

In the UK peanuts were known as Monkey Nuts named after the monkey printed on the packet. At the sea side it was common to see a vendor wandering along the beach with a large wicket basket selling crisps(potato chips to our American cousins) and Monkey Nuts plus other assorted cold snacks. The Monkey Nuts were still in their shells. These nuts are popular with grey squirrels in the London parks such as St James park. It is a traditional childhood activity with ones parents and grand parents to feed the ducks and squirrels in the park.

Absolutely love this, I remember my jr high teacher playing the goober pea song one day as class began explaining it was about peanuts during the period we were learning about. Keep making amazing videos.

"I'm Charles M. Schulz and I approved this video."

The History Guy: I'm thankful that you mentioned George Washington Carver. He is a forgotten man who changed farming in very significant ways. There is a national monument in his name, located in South/West Missouri. Not too far from Joplin, where I spent most of my life. He was a brilliant man. I think he deserves a Rememberance of his own. I hope you are interested in doing this.

Well, you haven't lived til you've attended the Annual Suffolk Peanut Festival in Suffolk, VA!

Very interesting video. I always thought it was George Washington Carver that came up with peanut butter. I like what you do on here. Would you be interested in doing a video about the Port Chicago Explosion during WW2? It's a bit of local history for me and the 100+ men who died deserve to be remembered.

Great, Lance! Now I'm hungry for Reese's Pieces and it's only 7 AM.

My brother hates peanuts, he had a habit of swiping any food I'd made for myself so to stop that I'd add peanut butter to pretty much any sandwich I made. I can recommend peanut butter, cheese and bacon and bonus no fraternal theft.

Peanuts sold at sports stadiums have always been popular. I recall a published interview with the famous food concessioneer Harry M. Stevens where he discussed the packaging of peanuts by his workers. He had his workers, mostly young kids, work in groups bagging in-shell peanuts for stadium events. Each bag of peanuts was hand-counted and he first found that his profits increased if he put one less peanut in every bag. His profit also increased if he passed out Chewing Gum to the workers bagging the peanuts.

This is my favorite late night lockdown snack. A peanut butter sandwich (with butter not margarine and no jelly/jam) and a cup of tea. Very bad for the waistline though.

Thank you ! Y’all make my mornings .

I have to say that when I was living in South America I found the best peanuts I've ever eaten being sold in markets and by street vendors. I especially enjoyed one variety which had usually at least 5 small-ish peanuts in each pod (and not "long" like Virginia peanuts) with bright purple husks, and exquisitely rich and savory flavor. Often in outdoor markets there would be small vendors with charcoal burners set up, roasting peanuts in a pan, and selling them in small cones of newsprint.

Remember Justin Wilson? He put peanut butter in his chili. I have modified his recipe. When I make beans I add peanut butter to the beans after the beans are cooked. You gotta stir until blended. It makes the juice thicker and more flavorful. Since both are legumes it doesn't change the nutritional profile so much (I'm guessing) but it really enhances the flavor. Everyone has a second bowl. Enjoy

Americans are often surprised when they find out that europeans have very limited interest in peanut butter and jam sandwiches. Sometimes it's attributed to a misunderstanding about what kind of jam that should be used (not Jello), but I think it's simply because we dont have the same feelings about it as comfort food from childhood as americans has.

Boiled peanuts are awesome!!!

Don't forget a southern tradition of peanuts in Coke . Thank you for another great history lesson.

Living in southern Alabama and north Georgia in the early '70s, my wife and I discovered boiled peanuts sold steet side buy vendors. A large kettle boiled the nuts and when done, were skimmed out while hot into paper bags. It's our favorite way to eat peanuts now. When we can find the raw nuts, we use a Crock Pot for an overnight cooking. Now it's a comfort food!

The boll weevil was so important to Enterprise Al. That they have a monument to it!!!

Peanuts are a billion dollar a year industry in the United States. That's not "peanuts" 💰

I am English and grew up in the 1950s eating peanut butter as a savoury spread, in a sandwich with tomato and cucumber. I think that, when peanut butter crossed the Atlantic, the habit of eating it with jam didn't come with it, and it is definitely on the savoury or salty end of the spectrum here. They have recently even released a peanut butter and Marmite (savoury yeast spread) version, which is delicious!

I'm a little late, but the peanut puffs towards the end of the video are called Bamba (במבה). They are a snack food invented in Israel around 1964. The study you mention of introducing peanuts to infants is because of a study done with Israelis and Bamba, when the remarkably low rates of peanut allergies in Israeli children was noticed. It makes up around 25% of the snack foods in Israel, and are delicious. You can buy them in the states (much to the delight of Israelis like myself) and they even have a baby as the mascot because they are safe for infants. They contain just 4 ingredients: peanuts, corn, palm oil, and salt.

We still grow them around Cape Fear!

Sadly, I had to give up peanuts and peanut products because their oxalate content contributed to kidney stone formation. I love peanuts, but I am NO fan of the stones (I'm OK with The Stones).

Was in Spain last winter. They sell roasted Chestnuts on the street. It was a blast of nostalgia because I remember buying roast chestnuts when I was a kid in northeast Pennsylvania!

As nutritionally wholesome as the peanut butter sandwich may be you're content is, even more so, intellectually and spiritually wholesome.

PB&J sandwich with large cold glass of milk. Always satisfies.

Oh but the biggest question of them all. Crunchy or smooth.

One of my cooking secrets is to put a little peanut butter in my tomato sauces, soups, and stews. It sounds weird, but it's good.

Peanut butter and banana sandwich..toast the bread lightly. Rock simple to do and really good...

And as an adult. I still eat PB&J sandwiches. My favorite jelly is grape

Any plans for making an episode on Upton Sinclair?

Speaking of peanut butter - the easiest pie in history that is fool-proof and will knock your socks off is one box 3.9 oz instant chocolate pudding mix (I prefer chocolate fudge), 1 & 1/4 cup milk (whole or 2%), 1 cup smooth peanut butter, 1 cup cool whip and 1 graham cracker crust or chocolate cookie crust pre-made pie shell (8 or 9 inches). Blend with a whisk until it's a dark brown color and pour into the pie shell. Cover with any remaining whipped topping and add chocolate shavings or dust from a hand grater and you're done in 5 minutes. Let set in the fridge for 4 hours before serving. Costs 5 dollars if you don't have any of the items already (obviously less if you do). Half the price of any store bought pie, but is insanely rich tasting.

Sandwiches made with peanut butter, strawberry preserves, and sliced bananas on Eggo waffles is one my favorite things ever.