For many people, Fall doesn’t begin until they visit a cider mill selling doughnuts. But how the two came together is a bit of a mystery. One story is that the tradition began when the automobile collided with the automatic doughnut making machine. In 1921, the modern doughnut making machine was invented. It was inexpensive to buy, used inexpensive, pre-packaged mix, and was easy to operate. Although the inventor of the machine was not thinking about Sunday family drives, farm stand owners who sold sweet cider discovered the easy-to-use mixes and machines made for a tasty, and very profitable, additional treat. They quickly set about persuading the now more mobile urban masses to take a drive for a sweet adventure that was glossed with a nostalgic rural veneer.
