STRANGE BUT TRUE

Q. “There’s a Day for everything,” according to Dan Lewis on his Now I Know website. March 14 is Pi Day; Aug. 4, Chocolate Chip Day; Sept. 19, International Talk Like a Pirate Day, to name a few. “National Doughnut Day” apparently has two days to indulge: Nov. 5 and the first Friday in June. Which is the official one?

A. “The June date has a surprisingly storied history,” Lewis explains. During the first World War, when Salvation Army members traveled to France to support American troops there, they set up “home-away-from-home” canteens near the military encampments, where soldiers could get their clothes mended, buy paper and stamps and have a freshly baked snack. Often, doughnuts were served because, according to Mental Floss, the “battle-tested helmets were perfect for frying up to seven doughnuts at a time.”

Later, in the depth of the Great Depression, The Salvation Army, looking for ways to help, held the first ever National Doughnut Day on or about Friday, June 3, 1938, selling doughnuts “both to raise money and to honor the Doughnut Lassies who went overseas.” How Nov. 5 became connected with Doughnut Day is unclear, but as Lewis says, “it most likely had to do with the date’s proximity to Veteran’s Day,” also linking the treat to those who served in World War I. But the first Friday in June is the official date.

— Bill Sones and Rich Sones, for The Oklahoman