Graham crackers may be a popular snack food—especially when it comes to making s’mores around the campfire—but that wasn’t the purpose the creator had in mind. In the 1800s, the food industry was becoming more industrialized, with breads and baked goods being mass-produced more often.
Sylvester Graham was a minister who believed that he could use this change to—believe it or not—help people abstain from sex. His graham cracker recipe, then known as graham bread, was created with the intention of curbing sexual desires and serving as a form of birth control. The idea, from what researchers can tell, was that it was so bland that it could cause teenagers to forsake sex just to keep from eating another piece.
Those delicious graham crackers we’re used to eating? Those came years later. Weird, right?! You’ll never see graham crackers the same way again!