美国国家公共电台 NPR Even After 100 Years, People Are Still Reaching For The Moon(Pie)

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

OK. The turkey and dressing¹ may be dry or disappeared by now, but this season also sees a celebration of another distinctly American treat, the MoonPie. Maybe I should say moon-pye (ph). The snack food that began as a coal miner's treat is still being made in its original bakery, and all they need is a jingle² from BJ Leiderman, who writes our theme music, to celebrate the MoonPie's 100th birthday. Melanie Peeples has this appreciation³.

MELANIE PEEPLES, BYLINE⁴: Once upon a time, the MoonPie was just a snack cake you bought at the country store - just a humble⁵ sandwich of graham crackers⁶ with marshmallow filling and a waxy⁷ coating of chocolate. But today, 100 years after the first one rolled out of the bakery, it has slipped the surly bonds of the snack food industry and transcended⁸ into a cultural icon⁹ of the South.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "RC COLA AND MOON PIE")

BIG BILL LISTER: (Singing) Give me an RC Cola and a MoonPie, playing "Maple¹⁰ On The Hill."

PEEPLES: Big Bill Lister sang about it back in 1951, but he's far from the only one to memorialize it in art. Andy Warhol had his soup cans. But when folk artist Howard Finster turned his eyes to the MoonPie, he created art out of love, an homage¹¹ to the birthplace of the little round-faced pie.

(SOUNDBITE OF CONVEYOR BELT RUNNING)

PEEPLES: This is where it all happens - at the Chattanooga Bakery in Chattanooga, Tenn. Marketing¹² Director Tory Johnston stands next to the conveyor belt.

TORY JOHNSTON: Here we have what's called the Enrober. But this is sort of our - our Willy Wonka moment where we are - the entire row of Mini MoonPies are now falling underneath¹³ - or proceeding¹⁴ underneath this waterfall of chocolate.

PEEPLES: They can make more than a million MoonPies a day here. And like any great legend, the MoonPie mythos has been handed down in a great oral tradition.

SAM CAMPBELL IV: I tell the story like it was told to me.

PEEPLES: Sam Campbell IV is the president of the Chattanooga Bakery, which has been in his family for five generations and is still owned by the Campbells. Word has it an enterprising salesman at the bakery is responsible for it.

CAMPBELL IV: When he went up into Appalachia to try to sell some of the products from the bakery to the coal miners, they said, we don't want anything that your selling. We want something that's big and round and filled up with marshmallow, and it needs to be covered in chocolate. And then they framed the moon with their hands and said, and it needs to be as big as the moon.

PEEPLES: It was an astronomical¹⁵ hit. And though it is most beloved and consumed by those living in the South, they are actually sold in every state of the union. You just have to look a little harder in some places than others. Across the Tennessee River in downtown Chattanooga, it's the main attraction at the MoonPie store.

CARRIE CROWE: So you can get a double-decker. You can get a single-decker. They have the mini ones, you know, the smaller ones. And then they have all the different flavors. I personally like the vanilla¹⁶ or the chocolate.

PEEPLES: That's Carrie Crowe. She was born and raised in Chattanooga. She even put MoonPies in her wedding gift baskets to guests. But today she's brought friends.

KAREN HILLS: I'm Karen Hills, and I am visiting Carrie. I'm from Minneapolis.

PEEPLES: So of course they made the pilgrimage to the MoonPie store. Karen, from Minneapolis, has never even seen one for sale before. Crowe tries to prepare her.

CROWE: It tastes like a s'more but not hot and more mushy. So it's...

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: They're mushy. Mushy...

CROWE: The gushy delightfulness¹⁷ of the South.

PEEPLES: Karen allows me to record her first bite. She goes traditional and tries chocolate.

HILLS: It's like a soft vanilla wafer. Oh, yeah - a little...

CROWE: A little s'more. OK.

HILLS: The white part is marshmallow-y (ph). Uh-huh.

PEEPLES: Some people might call that heavenly. Karen decides to buy several boxes of them to take back to Minnesota...

HILLS: I'm going to share most of them (laughter).

PEEPLES: ...Because Karen, having finally seen the light, must spread the good word.

HILLS: I'm having a group of women at my house next Monday, and they are going to have MoonPies. We are going to have that for some of our treat (laughter).

PEEPLES: Like Marco Polo bringing noodles to Italy, she will bring MoonPies to the Minnesotans - in her bridge club. Maybe they'll even sing. Happy birthday, MoonPie.

For NPR News, I'm Melanie Peeples in Chattanooga.

1 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

2 jingle   

n.叮当声，韵律简单的诗句；v.使叮当作响，叮当响，押韵

参考例句：

• The key fell on the ground with a jingle.钥匙叮当落地。
• The knives and forks set up their regular jingle.刀叉发出常有的叮当声。

3 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

6 crackers   

adj.精神错乱的，癫狂的n.爆竹( cracker的名词复数 )；薄脆饼干；（认为）十分愉快的事；迷人的姑娘

参考例句：

• That noise is driving me crackers. 那噪声闹得我简直要疯了。
• We served some crackers and cheese as an appetiser. 我们上了些饼干和奶酪作为开胃品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 waxy   

adj.苍白的；光滑的

参考例句：

• Choose small waxy potatoes for the salad.选些个头小、表皮光滑的土豆做色拉。
• The waxy oil keeps ears from getting too dry.这些蜡状耳油可以保持耳朵不会太干燥。

8 transcended   

超出或超越（经验、信念、描写能力等）的范围( transcend的过去式和过去分词 )； 优于或胜过…

参考例句：

• He wanted assurance that he had transcended what was inherently ambiguous. 他要证明，他已经超越了本来就是混淆不清的事情。
• It transcended site to speak to universal human concerns. 它超越了场所的局限，表达了人类共同的心声。

9 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

10 maple   

n.槭树，枫树，槭木

参考例句：

• Maple sugar is made from the sap of maple trees.枫糖是由枫树的树液制成的。
• The maple leaves are tinge with autumn red.枫叶染上了秋天的红色。

11 homage   

n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬

参考例句：

• We pay homage to the genius of Shakespeare.我们对莎士比亚的天才表示敬仰。
• The soldiers swore to pay their homage to the Queen.士兵们宣誓效忠于女王陛下。

12 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

13 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

14 proceeding   

n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报

参考例句：

• This train is now proceeding from Paris to London.这次列车从巴黎开往伦敦。
• The work is proceeding briskly.工作很有生气地进展着。

15 astronomical   

adj.天文学的，（数字）极大的

参考例句：

• He was an expert on ancient Chinese astronomical literature.他是研究中国古代天文学文献的专家。
• Houses in the village are selling for astronomical prices.乡村的房价正在飙升。

16 vanilla   

n.香子兰，香草

参考例句：

• He used to love milk flavoured with vanilla.他过去常爱喝带香草味的牛奶。
• I added a dollop of vanilla ice-cream to the pie.我在馅饼里加了一块香草冰激凌。

17 delightfulness   

n.delightful（令人高兴的，使人愉快的，给人快乐的，讨人喜欢的）的变形

参考例句：