The 5th of January is National Whipped Cream Day!
At first blush, it’s understandable if your first reaction is — umm, the yearly pig-out high holidays just ended four days ago, and already you’re saying let’s eat whipped fat now?
There’s actually a reason for it, though.
On this day in 1914, Aaron “Bunny” Lapin was born in St Louis, Missouri. In 1948, he invented the aerosal spray cream known still as “Reddi-Wip.” At the time, there had already been spray creams available for a few years, but you had to take the cannister back to the factory all the time to get it refilled, and it was only available in a few places in Illinois. Bunny invented the convenient, single-use can, and the rest is both kitchen and landfill history.
So, have a little whipped cream today in Bunny’s honour, and even though we know you normally wouldn’t, go on, make it whipped cream in a can. After all, it’s your kitchen, no one else is watching.
Literature & Lore
“It’s a marshmallow day in the winter,
When the snow comes to cover the ground.
It’s the time for play, it’s a whipped cream day,
And we wait for it the whole year round!”
— Lyrics by Carl Sigman; sung by Dean Martin.