Starting in 2006, Somerville celebrates the birthplace of the legendary confection with an annual Fluff Festival. The one-day festival odes to the Fluff. While Fluff is embedded in New England tradition, it’s a globally adored confection that can be purchased at markets in the UAE, Europe, and Africa.
History of Fluff
American-Canadian confectioner Archibald Query produced the first batch of Fluff (as we know it) in his Somerville kitchen in 1917. Query sold Fluff door to door, but WWI shortages forced him to close shop. Uninterested in restarting the business after the war, two businessmen expressed their curiosity in purchasing the formula.
Confectioners H. Allen Durkee and Fred L. Mower of Swampscott purchased the Fluff formula from Query for $500 in 1920! The business scaled quickly, relocating to a 10,000 square-foot factory in Lynn in 1929. A major catalyst of the business included transforming the old ridged jar to the wide plastic jar still used today, as Fluff’s female customers indicated. This helped the Durkee-Mower Fluff product produce and sell at higher rates.
Durkee-Mower took on other projects over the 100+ years. They sponsored a radio station named the “Flufferettes,” and partnered with Kellogg’s to make a Rice Krispies treat.
Who invented the Fluffernutter sandwich?
The other famous Fluff-related innovation to stem from Massachusetts is the Fluffernutter. This is where things get a little sticky.
Query is credited as the original inventor of Fluff, yet confectioners Emma and Amory Curtis created “Snowflake Marshmallow Créme” in their Melrose kitchen in 1913, preceding Query’s Fluff by four years. The siblings created the marshmallow creme first, but Query’s recipe is the one used in Fluff sold to this day, so he’s credited as the sole innovator of Fluff.
Emma Curtis invented the Fluffernutter sandwich in 1918, using her Snowflake Créme. Then called the “Liberty Sandwich,” as she developed it to help Americans ration meat during WWI, the name changed 50 years later to make it more “marketable.”
However, the original Fluffernutter recipe is essentially untouched. Layers of marshmallow creme and salty peanut butter sandwiched between fluffy white bread is today’s modern recipe. Curtis served her recipe on “war bread,” made from oat or barley.
Fluff Festival
The annual Fluff Festival, “What the Fluff?,” returns for its 19th year this September. You’ll find a Fluff n’ Jam stage serving live music with a side of fluff!
Take part in sticky antics at the Shenanigans Stage, where Fluff Fest’s longtime Archibald Query impersonator hosts 9 rounds of fluffalicious activities:
- 2:00 PM – Marshmallow Toss
- 2:15 PM – Fluff Jousting
- 2:50 PM – Fluff on the Nose
- 3:05 PM – Fluff Musical Chairs
- 3:40 PM – Fluff Limbo
- 4:05 PM – Fluff Musical Chairs
- 4:40 PM – Fluff Limbo
- 5:05 PM – Fluff Jousting
- 5:40 PM – Fluff Hairdos
The festival welcomes dozens of vendors, Fluff swag, and of course, flufftastic treats to snack on!
Find the Fluff Festival on September 21 (rain date September 22) from 2-6 PM in Union Square, Somerville!