> At the time spaghetti was relatively unknown in the UK, so many British people were unaware that it is made from wheat flour and water
It seems absolutely wild that as recently as 1957, something as mundane as spaghetti was "relatively unknown in the UK". (Unless we are being meta-pranked...)
There is often a meta-hoax which vastly overstates how many people believed a hoax in the first place. For example the myth about the War of the Worlds radio show causing mass panic.
The article mention "hundreds phoned in the following day to question the authenticity of the story or ask for more information about spaghetti cultivation and how they could grow their own spaghetti trees". Of course it is unclear how many of these "hundreds" called to call bullshit, and how many called to get spaghetti-growing tips. Given Aprils Fools was a well known tradition at the time, it is possible some of the callers was in on the joke.
We have no idea how many people actually believed the hoax.
"We have no idea how many people actually believed the hoax. "
This is true, but I regulary read a satire magazin - and the readers letter are quite funny and scary, because I could not believe how many people do take BS seriously.
Now of course, they could all be satire, too (but elaborate one, because from seemingly real FB accounts), but maybe keep in mind, how many people did (and still do) believe Covid was a hoax. And that there is an actual flat earth society.
We are not. I grew up in Denmark in the sixties. We really weren't lacking for anything, but spaghetti strictly came out of a tin together with some strange orange tomatoish sauce.
I graduated highschool in 1977. Everybody went to Copenhagen for a night on the town. That's were I saw the first pizza of my life.
> By September 1949 The Seattle Times was touting the joint and its palpable history: "For a sentimental journey to an almost-vanished Seattle, and some fine Italian food, try ... Daverso's Palace Grill ... The huge old mahogany back bar, the tiled floors and walls, and the checkered tablecloths will make you nostalgic, and the king-size menu will make you hungry. A couple of specialties: Pizza, the hot pastry that looks like a phonograph record, covered with mushrooms, cheese and tomatoes ..." (Lund, "A La Carte").
> The fact that a writer for The Seattle Times in 1949 felt obligated to describe what a pizza looks like was simply because few in the area had ever seen or tried one. As Frank Daverso would later recall:
"We had to give it away for the first four years. Nobody had ever heard of it. Customers liked our spaghetti and ravioli, so we'd give 'em a sample of pizza with each order. They seemed to like pizza but just wouldn't order it. Finally, we tried advertising. Sailors and other servicemen, who had eaten pizza in the East, began coming in and soon it caught on -- but it took four long years"
Given how powerful association is it isn't surprising it took a long time for it to catch on. Pouring a treatment for excessive earwax on your food just sounds disgusting.
It was actually in culinary use in the UK in the 19th century, but seemed to fall out of favour in the 20th (at least until the revival credited to Elisabeth David). https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-29220046
It seems absolutely wild that as recently as 1957, something as mundane as spaghetti was "relatively unknown in the UK". (Unless we are being meta-pranked...)