# So, how well DID hotcakes sell? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 17, 2014, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-well-did-hotcakes-sell/679023 "2014-01-17T01:33:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Apocalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Apocalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apocalypso)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2014, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-well-did-hotcakes-sell/679023/1 "2014-01-17T01:33:37Z")
Most people are familiar with the phrase “sell/sold like hotcakes”. Were they really the best selling thing ever, to the point where everything else was measured by their sales? ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2014, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-well-did-hotcakes-sell/679023/2 "2014-01-17T02:09:10Z")
According to [The Word Detective](http://www.word-detective.com/2010/01/selling-like-hotcakes/), the phrase dates back to 1839, but there was no one particular hotcake fad that inspired it. I’ve always imagined it to be less about selling hotcakes from a store or restaurant, and more about a family or ranch cook offering up hotcakes and having everyone immediately come running for them. (As if on a day when scrambled eggs were on the menu, people would be, “O.K., time for breakfast,” but if it was hotcakes breakfast would suddenly be a big deal and everyone would want some.) ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2014, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-well-did-hotcakes-sell/679023/3 "2014-01-17T15:14:10Z")
What was the greatest thing \*before \*sliced bread? ---
**Author:** ![Obnoxious\_Hood\_Ornament](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3be4f8/32.png) [@Obnoxious\_Hood\_Ornament](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obnoxious_Hood_Ornament)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2014, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-well-did-hotcakes-sell/679023/4 "2014-01-17T15:53:29Z")
> [@](#): > > What was the greatest thing before sliced bread? If I had to make a wild guess, probably beer 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2014, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-well-did-hotcakes-sell/679023/5 "2014-01-17T15:55:20Z")
Once I found out that “hotcake” means pancake, not just a cake hot from the oven, I assumed it came from the fact that they _had_ to be sold quickly: once made, a pancake is best eaten immediately, so don’t hang about! ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2014, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-well-did-hotcakes-sell/679023/6 "2014-01-17T16:58:56Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > I’ve always imagined it to be less about selling hotcakes from a store or restaurant, and more about a family or ranch cook offering up hotcakes and having everyone immediately come running for them. I had a similar mental image, but the crowd of running people would just hold up their plates and the cook would flip a hotcake right off the griddle, through the air, and on to the plate of one of the waiting throng. So hotcakes would naturally be faster than other breakfast items that couldn’t be served kinetically. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2014, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-well-did-hotcakes-sell/679023/7 "2014-01-17T18:00:51Z")
“These latkes are going like hotcakes!” -Kramer ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2014, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-well-did-hotcakes-sell/679023/8 "2014-01-17T18:52:23Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > What was the greatest thing \*before \*sliced bread? I’m not sure when factory sliced bread was invented but I was really amazed by how innovative the introduction of the C-spring in the 1800’s was. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2014, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-well-did-hotcakes-sell/679023/9 "2014-01-17T19:13:30Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > What was the greatest thing \*before \*sliced bread? > [@](#): > > Wrapped bread. This is a fact: The hyperbolic expression “the greatest thing since sliced bread” derives from an 1928 advertising slogan that described sliced bread as “the greatest forward step in the baking industry since bread was wrapped.” More answers [here](http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/straight-answers-to-some-popular-rhetorical-riddles). ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2014, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-well-did-hotcakes-sell/679023/10 "2014-01-17T19:32:11Z")
The _Word Detective_ mentions “flat as a pancake.” It has long been said that the state of Kansas is as flat as a pancake. A couple of bored U of Kansas students decided to find out. They laser-mapped some pancakes, and they compared it to a topographical map of Kansas. Their conclusion was that Kansas is _much flatter_ than a pancake. ---
**Author:** ![Aquadementia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aquadementia/32/555_2.png) [@Aquadementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquadementia)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2014, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-well-did-hotcakes-sell/679023/11 "2014-01-17T20:57:57Z")
Customers are buying them by the stack. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2014, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-well-did-hotcakes-sell/679023/12 "2014-01-17T21:27:56Z")
To be honest, hot cakes (pancakes) do sell really well. They’re cheap, easy, quick and friendly to folks of all/most ages, food preferences and backgrounds. A lot of churches and other nonprofits even today raise a lot of funds through pancake breakfasts. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2014, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-well-did-hotcakes-sell/679023/13 "2014-01-18T00:17:45Z")
Maybe there was a bunch of drunken sailors waking up and needing some hang-over food. They would, of course, have lots of money to spend. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2014, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-well-did-hotcakes-sell/679023/14 "2014-01-18T00:50:29Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > What was the greatest thing \*before \*sliced bread? Leavened bread. People were getting damn tired of eating crackers. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2014, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-well-did-hotcakes-sell/679023/15 "2014-01-18T01:28:58Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > The _Word Detective_ mentions “flat as a pancake.” It has long been said that the state of Kansas is as flat as a pancake. A couple of bored U of Kansas students decided to find out. They laser-mapped some pancakes, and they compared it to a topographical map of Kansas. > > Their conclusion was that Kansas is _much flatter_ than a pancake. Didn’t that win an _Ignoble_ a few years ago? ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2014, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-well-did-hotcakes-sell/679023/16 "2014-01-18T20:32:54Z")
I’m not sure where I heard the story, but perhaps it was an Ignobel winner. It’s certainly absurd enough. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2014, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-well-did-hotcakes-sell/679023/17 "2014-01-19T01:03:10Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > The _Word Detective_ mentions “flat as a pancake.” It has long been said that the state of Kansas is as flat as a pancake. A couple of bored U of Kansas students decided to find out. They laser-mapped some pancakes, and they compared it to a topographical map of Kansas. > > Their conclusion was that Kansas is _much flatter_ than a pancake. Sort of, it has a general tilt upwards to the west. As mrAru and I commented the first time I drove west to visit his family with him - “Its flat, the road sucks and there are cows.” And we developed this urge to get a gun and shoot the centers of all the little sunflowers on the signs… ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-well-did-hotcakes-sell/679023/18 "2014-01-20T06:37:28Z")
Did you hear about the new cemetery? People are just _dying_ to get in there. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-well-did-hotcakes-sell/679023/19 "2014-01-20T07:16:01Z")
I saw it as in freshly baked. The smell of freshly baked cakes / bread tends to cause people to lift up like a hummingbird and then float along a visible scent trail to the source. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-well-did-hotcakes-sell/679023/20 "2014-01-20T13:07:46Z")
Of course everyone knows that you can’t have your cake and eat it - hot or cold. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-well-did-hotcakes-sell/679023.md?page=2)