Love it or hate it, pumpkin spice is the flavor of the fall. The cozy and warm flavoring rarely involves actual pumpkin but that won’t stop this big lie to be one of America’s obsessions.

According to the chicagoist article, “The Dark And Murky History Of Pumpkin Spice”, the earliest reference of this popular blend can be traced back to 1936. Published by the Washington Post , the “Pumpkin Spice Cakes” recipe was a very “appropriate dessert for a family dinner “ and most likely, had actual pumpkin listed as an ingredient, just like any other pumpkin-ish type desserts from that time. The 1950s marks the end of the Dark Ages – the “Pumpkin Pie Spice” blend is  released nationwide by the big spice companies. Life was good in 1996: puffy vests, baggy corduroys and the very first pumpkin spice flavored coffee were introduced to mankind. 2003 was the turning point of human evolution as the culture-bearing upright-walking, Homo sapiens, evolved to a distinctively and unexpected scientific subspecies; the Homo pumpkinus-sapiens was recognized by a scientific community off Main Street, shortly after Starbucks introduced the PSL (Pumpkin Spice Latte) to primates.

So far this year, the pumpkin spice empire is worth a whopping $600 million. Are we ok with this? Absolutely. Do we have enough pumpkin spice products in life? No, we need more, but for now, let’s cherish the little we have.

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