Flashback Friday: A ‘Hole’ Lot of History for National Doughnut Day

In 1938, the Salvation Army created National Donut Day—June 3—to honor women who served doughnuts to Soldiers in World War I (the day is also known as National Doughnut Day, but the Salvation Army uses the “Donut” spelling). The Exchange has a loose connection to the WWI doughnut service.

An assortment of doughnuts at the November 2021 grand opening of the bakery at U.S,. Army Garrison Humphreys in South Korea. The bakery produces Krispy Kreme doughnuts, a first for Korea Exchanges.

When the United States entered the war in April 1917, it wasn’t ready to equip and supply the increase in Army forces. About 2 million Soldiers saw service in France, the largest number deployed overseas at the time. The post exchange system wasn’t able to meet the needs of a force that size, so civilian agencies such as the Salvation Army provided services that the Exchange would provide in later years.

The Salvation Army began its support in July 1917, operating recreation huts and canteens, moving them as close to the front line as possible when the lines of battle moved forward. “Lassies,” as the women were known, baked sweet treats for Soldiers, including doughnuts. According to the Salvation Army, the Lassies were credited with popularizing doughnuts in the United States after the troops—aka doughboys—returned from the war.

Eventually, the Exchange began selling doughnuts in snack bars. In 1946, shortly after World War II, the Army Exchange Service operated American Red Cross “Doughnut Dug-Outs” at autobahn highways near select cities in West Germany. But doughnuts play a stronger role in the Exchange’s recent history.

The modern-day Exchange operates numerous locations of Dunkin’ (aka Dunkin’ Donuts), as well as some lesser-known brands such as the wonderfully named Grizzly Donuts at Alaska’s Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Exchange. The first Exchange Dunkin’ opened in 2004 at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa.

In October 2015, the Exchange’s Gruenstadt bakery made the first batch of Krispy Kreme doughnuts for customers in Europe. The next year, the plant produced 7 million Krispy Kreme doughnuts for troops and families across the continent. A new bakery that opened in November 2021 at U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys in South Korea also produces Krispy Kreme doughnuts, a first for Korea Exchanges.

In April 2017, keeping in mind customers who might not like doughnuts, the Gruenstadt team came up with a Krispy Kreme cupcake—a product unique to the Gruenstadt bakery.

“We came up with the idea to make cupcakes with mainly doughnut ingredients,” bakery manager Mathia Baum told the Exchange Post in late 2021. “Our excellent bakers then developed and tested the recipes together with our quality assurance team.”

It took them three years to come up with a cupcake that met Krispy Kreme’s exacting standards, which involved taste, appearance and packaging. That’s worth remembering when National Cupcake Day comes along in December.

SOURCES: One Hundred Years of Service: A History of the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, Exchange Post archives, Exchange history Flickr, The Salvation Army USA (https://www.salvationarmyusa.org/usn/national-donut-day/), U.S. Army in Germany (usarmygermany.com).