June 16 is National Fudge Day.

Did you know that the history of fudge in the United States is tied to women’s higher education and three of the Seven Sisters colleges? According to The Nibble.com, “One of the first documentations of fudge is in a letter written by Emelyn Battersby Hartridge, then a student at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. She wrote that a schoolmate’s cousin made fudge in Baltimore in 1886 and sold it for 40 cents a pound. She obtained the recipe, and in 1888, made 30 pounds of it for the Vassar Senior Auction. Word of the confection spread to other women’s colleges. Wellesley and Smith developed their own versions of this ‘original’ fudge recipe.”

Given that history, you might think that Three Sisters Fudge in Blue Ridge, Ga., is named for Vassar, Smith, and Wellesley—but you’d be wrong. It’s named for sisters Kristian, Karlie, and Katelyn.

There is fudge, and then there is Fudge, the chocolate bar manufactured by Cadbury. I never saw this commercial in the United States, but apparently people in the UK know that “a finger of fudge is just enough.” Is it really? Someone needs to tell them that British chocolate rationing ended in 1953. Anyway, Wikipedia says the catchy jingle is based on the English folk song “The Lincolnshire Poacher.”

Cadbury commercial, “A finger of Fudge is just enough” (1979)

Related articles

• National Fudge Day (foodimentary.com)