The picture raises two branches of questions: Who is the man in the photograph, and what are the circumstances? And what about the claim in the sign he’s holding? Is it a real representation of changing doughnut hole sizes through the years? We’ll break...
under the Sally L. Steinberg Collection of Doughnut Ephemera. Neither the name of the man in the picture, nor the photographer who took it, is listed by the collection. The mysterious circumstances may have led some to speculate that McConnell got cheeky with a talk about the economy and used doughnut hole sizes to drive home a point.
But after doing some research, we can confirm the man in the image isn't McConnell, and the photo wasn't taken in 1978.revealed that the image was published by Newsweek magazine on March 17, 1947. The caption on the photograph reveals that the man pictured is Edward Falasca, who gained a bit of notoriety in the 1940s for his unique position — Falasca was perhaps the only professional doughnut hole inspector on record.in the March 9, 1947, edition of the Indiana Star Press newspaper in an article headlined,"Culinary and Hat Reform." In that story, Falasca talked about the need to shrink the size of the doughnut hole in order to give pastry aficionados a better grip on their sweet treats. He also spoke in rather lofty terms about what he apparently considered the art of eating a doughnut. "Flexible fingers are as necessary for doughnut dunking as for playing the piano," Falasca is quoted as stating."As a matter of fact, harp playing and balalaika playing are the best ways to practice for dunking." Falasca was again featured in an article in The Santa Clara newspaper in December 1949. The story described Falasca as the"only" doughnut hole inspector who"operates like a confidential agent," going to various eateries and taking away doughnuts, which he would then measure in the privacy of a hotel room, sometimes using a ruler, sometimes busting out a caliper, depending on the job. According to the Santa Clara article, Falasca was tasked with enforcing alleged consumer expectations for doughnut hole sizes:"In New England, for example, the holes are one and one-eighth inches in diameter. New Englanders hate a three-eighth inch hole." That said, we still know very few details of Falasca's life and work -- so few, in fact, that we're a bit skeptical of past reporting on the man and his unusual job. The Santa Clara reported that he worked"for a corporation that manufactures machines which produce 40 percent of the doughnuts sold in this country." But the newspaper didn't name the corporation, nor did it reveal where Falasca lived, or what educational and professional background a man who worked as the nation's only doughnut hole inspector had that would lead him to such an occupation. We will update this story if we locate more information about him, and invite our readers who might have such knowledge to
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