Bacon

About

Bacon is a cured meat made from pork or turkey traditionally eaten as a breakfast food or as a complementary ingredient in other dishes. Since the 1980s, passion for novelty bacon dishes and products in the United States and Canada has increased.

History

Pre-Internet

Bacon^[1] has been eaten by people dating back to the Roman empire^[2] with their version called “petaso,” which was boiled with figs and eaten with pepper sauce. The name “bacon” came from ancient Germans who originally called it bak or bakke, meaning “back,” the part of the pig the cut of meat came from. It was a staple throughout Europe and Christopher Columbus brought eight pigs with him when he first came to America.^[3] Bacon became more popular in the United States in 1924, when Oscar Mayer introduced packages of pre-sliced bacon that were available in supermarkets. The first Bacon Festival^[14] was held on March 1st, 2008 in Des Moines Iowa, featuring lectures, taste-tests, and even a bacon eating contest.

In more recent years, novelty shop sites including Think Geek^[5] and Archie McPhee^[6] have begun carrying bacon gag items ranging from the bacon flavored (lip balm, toothpaste, hot sauce, and gum) to bacon printed (wallets, wrapping paper, shirts, and bandage strips).

Online History

Bacon Unwrapped^[13] was the first site to document the web’s love of bacon, created on January 16th, 2004 by blogger Heather Lauer. She went on to write a book on pop culture’s passion for the meat titled Bacon: A Love Story^[12], published in May 2009. In August 2006, satire news organization The Onion^[15] described the popularity of bacon as a condiment in an article titled “Report: Meat Now American’s No. 2 Condiment.” Bacon Today^[10] was established in July 2008 as a source for all bacon related news, reviews, and recipes. A Wiki^[8] was also created, hosting bacon recipes ranging from the everyday to the extreme. There is also Bacolicio.us^[11], a site that will make a slice of bacon appear on any website you’d like.

Beginning in 2009, Bacon saw a period of resurgence with the emergence of “food porn” blogs as a popular concept. A wide variety of Bacon-themed merchandise and apparel launched, including an alarm clock, iPhone carrying cases and even Keds sneakers.^[16][17] In April of that year, the LA Times^[9] published on article on the internet’s obsession with bacon. The trend was associated with the “slow food” movement, the “antithesis of fast food” and the fact it can be made by anyone with any level of cooking skill.

Impact

Push Button, Receive Bacon

Push Button, Receive Bacon is a catchphrase often found in public restrooms under graphic instructions typically found on hand dryers. The phrase’s earliest documentation defacing a hand dryer dates back to August 2004, found at Brigham Young University in Utah. Since, the squiggly red lines that represent warm air in pictorial instructions have become synonymous with bacon.

Bacon is Good for Me

The video remix fad Bacon is Good For Me was started in August 2009 after a clip from Wifeswap USA was uploaded to YouTube.^[4] In the episode, a child named Curtis is upset because the temporary mom placed in his home wants to get rid of the bacon in the house. YouTubers began making remixes of the original and response videos empathizing with Curtis.

Epic Meal Time

On September 29th, 2010, the YouTube channel Epic Meal Time was created. The cooking series consists of Harley Morenstein and friends who design food items or entire meals made primarily out of meat, specifically bacon. As of January 2012, the channel is the #11th most subscribed-to channel of all time. They have published 70 views and have over 315 million views, with about 660,000 views a day.

Search Interest

Search for Bacon (with “Kevin” removed due to the famous actor Kevin Bacon) has been consistent from 2004 on, rising in recent years.

External References