Why Marshmallow Fluff couldn’t have been created anywhere other than Massachusetts

Marshmallow fluff.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of Marshmallow Fluff, the sweet spread on which generations of local children have been raised. Nine million pounds of Fluff are churned out each year by the family-run Durkee-Mower company in Lynn, and despite Fluff’s global distribution, half of that sweet, marshmallow-y goodness is consumed right here in New England. The Fluffernutter is an enduring lunchbox staple. There was even a movement afoot to make it the official state sandwich.

Packaged in a stout jar wrapped in a patriotically hued label that hasn’t changed much since Kennedy was in the White House, Marshmallow Fluff has an extremely loyal fan base. Like Vegemite for Australians, Fluff inspires an affection among New Englanders that outsiders will never quite understand. Marshmallow Fluff has embedded itself into the region’s culinary DNA — and the fact is, it couldn’t have been invented anywhere else. Fluff owes its existence, and its popularity, to a confluence of local inventions and personalities.

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