World War II And Pizza

If there’s one food that transcends all social barriers in America, it has to be pizza. Pretty much everybody loves it. The USDA estimates that 37 million Americans partake of pizza daily. 

But pizza was—obviously—not an original American food. Immigrants from Italy first introduced pizza to the United States in the early 1900s—but it was pretty much confined to Italian neighborhoods in New York, Boston, San Francisco and Chicago. In terms of retail, Gennaro Lombardi was the first to receive a license to make and sell pizza in 1905 in New York City. 

Despite a bit of a resurgence in the 1930s, pizza didn’t really take off in the United States until after World War II. Around 150,000 GIs were stationed in Southern Italy during the war. They ate tons of pizza and loved it. This phenomenon was helped by one of the Army’s food suppliers—Hector Boiardi. He later became the famous Chef Boyardee. Then, returning GI Ira Nevin built the first gas-fired, ceramic-deck Bakers Pride pizza oven—which allowed for the explosion of pizza places nationwide. Pizza chains started cropping up in the late 1950s—starting with Pizza Hut and followed by Little Caesar’s and Domino’s. Now, pizza is, literally, ubiquitous.

But this “pizza revolution” in America would never have happened without hungry GIs demanding that amazing food they experienced in the south of Italy. 

A Teenage Patriot Messenger

In June of 1781, late in the Revolutionary War, South Carolina was a stronghold of loyalist, pro-British sentiment. An epic battle was looming and a young 18-year-old woman named Emily Geiger was about to play a major role in it. 

Continental Army General Nathaniel Greene was camped near the Geiger home in upcountry South Carolina. He needed to get an urgent message to General Thomas Sumter (for whom the Civil War’s Fort Sumter was named). Young Emily, whose father was a strong supporter of the patriot cause, volunteered to carry the message. She carefully committed the note to memory and set off.

Riding on horseback through enemy territory, Emily was captured by the Redcoats and taken to Fort Granby. After being interrogated by British General Lord Francis Rawdon himself, she was ordered jailed. While waiting to be searched by a female loyalist, Emily ate General Greene’s message. With the written message gone, no incriminating evidence was found. After she told the British she was just traveling to her uncle’s house, Lord Rawdon was honor-bound to let her go.

Reaching General Sumter’s camp, Emily dutifully recounted her memorized message from General Greene. The two Continental Army units were then joined together for an assault that eventually rid South Carolina of British troops. 

Abagail Adams famously advised her husband John Adams to “remember the Ladies” of the Revolution. We, too, should remember and be thankful for young Emily Geiger.