A personal reflection on the author's lifelong love for oyster crackers, exploring their versatility and cultural significance. The piece also hints at a journey to uncover the history of these beloved snacks.
It’s a late night in 2004 and I'm sitting cross-legged on my bed in my photograph-laden dorm room. My roommates and I have just returned from our Friday night ritual of happy-hour-turned-all-night-drinks at What Ale’s You in downtown Burlington, Vermont, and we’re rehashing the night's shenanigans. As usual, there is drunk food. One of my roommates tucks into a slice of pizza while the other two are feasting on late-night ramen.
I can’t remember when I first took note of my love for oyster crackers, but I also can’t recall a time in my life when there weren’t oyster crackers. And despite my passion for the snack after all these years, I’d never really considered its origin. While rooting through my pantry recently, I came across one of those little restaurant packets I had thrown in my purse to enjoy at a later date.
Soda crackers came on the scene shortly after, and the general public started to take note of this upgraded cracker. These crackers were named because of they included baking soda, which created a crunchier, more delicate product than the water cracker. The heat of the oven in combination with the baking soda produced tiny bubbles, creating an airy cracker that stood out from others. There are mentions of both soda and saltine crackers in thefrom 1832.
Between their original pairing with oyster stew and their resemblance to oyster shells, naming these crackers “oyster crackers” seemed like a no-brainer. In some regions like Philadelphia, however, the cracker took on different names. Exton’s Trenton, New Jersey bakery supplied so many Philadelphia restaurants that the oyster cracker came to be known as the “Philadelphia Cracker,” “Trenton cracker,” and “water cracker.
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