The History of Donuts in America: From Dutch Olykoeks to a $10 Billion Industry

The donut is as American as apple pie — maybe more so. It has been part of the American story for over 300 years, evolving from a humble colonial treat into a $10 billion industry that employs hundreds of thousands of people and feeds millions every day. The history of the donut in America is a story of immigration, innovation, wartime patriotism, corporate ambition, and creative reinvention. It is also, at its core, a story about the enduring human love for warm, sweet fried dough.

Dutch Beginnings: Olykoeks in New Amsterdam

The donut's American story begins with the Dutch. When Dutch settlers established New Amsterdam (modern-day New York) in the early 1600s, they brought with them a tradition of frying sweet dough in pork fat. These treats, called olykoeks — literally "oily cakes" — were balls of sweetened dough, sometimes studded with nuts, raisins, or apples, dropped into hot fat and fried until golden. They had no hole and no ring shape; they were simply round lumps of fried sweetness, enjoyed during holidays and special occasions.

The olykoek was not unique to the Dutch — virtually every culture has some version of fried dough — but the Dutch version was the direct ancestor of the American donut. As New Amsterdam became New York and Dutch culture blended with English and other colonial traditions, the olykoek persisted and evolved. The word "doughnut" first appeared in print in Washington Irving's 1809 satirical "History of New York," in which he described "balls of sweetened dough, fried in hog's fat, and called doughnuts, or olykoeks." Irving's mention cemented the word in American English, even if the treat itself had been around for nearly two centuries by that point.

The Hole Story

The most distinctive feature of the American donut — the hole — has a murky and much-debated origin. The most popular story credits a Maine sea captain named Hanson Gregory, who claimed that in 1847, at the age of 16, he punched a hole in the center of his mother's fried cakes because the middles were always greasy and undercooked. By removing the center, the dough cooked more evenly all the way through.

Whether Gregory's story is true or apocryphal, it has become donut canon. A plaque in his hometown of Rockport, Maine honors his supposed invention. Other theories suggest the hole was a practical innovation by street vendors who threaded donuts on sticks for display, or that it evolved naturally as bakers discovered ring shapes fried more evenly than solid rounds. Whatever the true origin, the ring shape had become the standard American donut form by the mid-1800s, and it gave the donut its iconic silhouette — one of the most recognizable food shapes in the world.

Salvation Army Donut Lassies: WWI

The donut's transformation from regional treat to national symbol happened in the muddy trenches of World War I. In 1917, the Salvation Army sent female volunteers — soon nicknamed "Donut Lassies" — to the front lines in France to provide comfort and food to American troops. Working in cramped, dangerous conditions, these women fried fresh donuts for soldiers, sometimes using helmets as improvised frying pans when proper equipment was unavailable.

The Donut Lassies became hugely popular with the troops, and the donuts they served became powerfully associated with home, comfort, and American identity. When the soldiers returned from the war, they brought their donut cravings with them, driving demand across the country. The troops' nickname — "doughboys" — further cemented the connection between American soldiers and donuts. National Donut Day, celebrated on the first Friday of June, was established in 1938 by the Salvation Army to honor the Donut Lassies and has been celebrated ever since. The WWI era was the moment the donut went from a food Americans ate to a food that symbolized America.

The First Chains: 1930s-1950s

The modernization of the donut industry began with a Russian-born immigrant named Adolph Levitt, who invented the first automated donut machine in 1920. Levitt placed the machine in the window of his New York City bakery, where passersby could watch donuts being made on a mechanical conveyor — dropping into hot oil, flipping automatically, and emerging golden brown. The display drew enormous crowds and proved that donuts had commercial potential far beyond what a traditional bakery could achieve. By the 1930s, Levitt was selling his machines to bakeries across the country and earning millions.

The chain era began in earnest with two brands that would define American donut culture for the rest of the century. In 1937, Vernon Rudolph founded Krispy Kreme in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, using a secret yeast-raised donut recipe he had purchased from a French chef in New Orleans. Rudolph initially sold his donuts wholesale, but when the aroma of frying donuts attracted pedestrians who wanted to buy them directly, he cut a hole in the wall and began selling to walk-up customers. That direct-to-consumer impulse — follow the irresistible smell — would become the foundation of the Krispy Kreme brand.

In 1950, William Rosenberg opened the first Dunkin' Donuts in Quincy, Massachusetts. Rosenberg, a practical businessman who had observed workers' eating habits while running a food truck service, built Dunkin' around the idea of donuts and coffee as an affordable, quick breakfast for working Americans. While Krispy Kreme was built on the sensory experience of hot, fresh donuts, Dunkin' was built on convenience and value. These two philosophies would shape the donut industry for decades.

The Dunkin' and Krispy Kreme Era: 1960s-2000s

From the 1960s through the early 2000s, the American donut landscape was dominated by chains. Dunkin' Donuts expanded aggressively throughout the Northeast and became an inseparable part of the region's commuter culture. In Boston, New York, and across New England, Dunkin' was not just a donut shop but a daily ritual — the place where you grabbed your coffee and a donut (or a dozen) on the way to work. The slogan "America Runs on Dunkin'" was not hyperbole in the Northeast; it was an observation.

Krispy Kreme, meanwhile, dominated the South with a more experience-driven approach. The "Hot Now" neon sign, which lit up whenever fresh donuts were coming off the line, became one of the most powerful marketing tools in fast food history. When Krispy Kreme began expanding nationally in the 1990s and went public in 2000, it generated enormous hype. The stock soared, new locations drew hours-long lines, and for a brief period, Krispy Kreme was one of the most talked-about brands in America. The company overexpanded and faced accounting issues, tempering the hype, but its cultural impact was lasting.

Meanwhile, in Canada, Tim Hortons — founded in 1964 by the hockey player of the same name — became the dominant donut chain north of the border and gradually expanded into the northern United States. For Canadians, Tim Hortons occupies the same cultural space that Dunkin' holds in the American Northeast: a daily habit, a meeting place, a national institution.

The Gourmet Donut Renaissance: 2010s

The mid-2000s and early 2010s saw a dramatic shift in American donut culture. A new generation of bakers, influenced by the broader artisan food movement, began opening small-batch donut shops with creative flavors, premium ingredients, and a focus on craft. Voodoo Doughnut, which opened in Portland, Oregon in 2003, was one of the early catalysts — its irreverent spirit, outlandish flavors (Bacon Maple Bar, Captain my Captain with Cap'n Crunch cereal), and late-night hours helped establish the donut as a vehicle for culinary creativity and cultural expression.

The defining moment of the gourmet donut era was the debut of the Cronut. In May 2013, French pastry chef Dominique Ansel introduced his croissant-donut hybrid at his New York City bakery, and the food world lost its collective mind. Lines stretched around the block before dawn. Scalpers sold Cronuts for $100. The story went viral worldwide, and suddenly every bakery in America was trying to create the next hybrid pastry sensation. The Cronut proved that a single donut innovation could generate the kind of media attention usually reserved for tech launches and celebrity scandals.

In the wake of the Cronut craze, craft donut shops proliferated in every major American city. Instagram played a crucial role — photogenic donuts with colorful glazes, elaborate toppings, and creative presentations became social media currency. Shops like Sidecar Doughnuts in California, District Doughnut in Washington DC, and Stan's Donuts in Chicago proved that consumers would pay premium prices for premium donuts. Flavors like ube, matcha, maple bacon, and salted caramel became standard offerings at shops that would not have existed a decade earlier.

Donuts Today: A $10 Billion Industry

The American donut industry today is worth over $10 billion annually, with more than 25,000 donut shops operating across the country. The market is split between the legacy chains — Dunkin' (now just "Dunkin'"), Krispy Kreme, and Tim Hortons — and a thriving ecosystem of independent shops that ranges from mom-and-pop neighborhood bakeries to high-end artisan operations.

Current trends reflect the broader American food landscape. Mochi donuts, with their chewy rice-flour texture and Instagram-friendly appearance, are one of the fastest-growing segments. Global flavors drawn from Filipino, Japanese, Mexican, and other cuisines are expanding what Americans expect from a donut. Vegan and plant-based donuts have gone from novelty to necessity at many shops. Premium ingredients — high-end chocolate, real vanilla, local fruit, artisan jams — command premium prices that would have been unthinkable a generation ago.

The COVID-19 pandemic, rather than hurting the donut industry, actually boosted it. Donuts became a comfort food staple during lockdowns, and the drive-through-friendly format of most donut shops made them well-suited to pandemic-era dining. Many shops reported record sales in 2020 and 2021, a testament to the donut's enduring role as an affordable indulgence and a small, reliable pleasure in uncertain times.

The donut has been a part of American life for more than 300 years, and its core appeal has never changed: warm, fresh, sweet fried dough, shared with the people you care about. The forms and flavors evolve — from Dutch olykoeks to Cronuts, from powdered sugar to ube — but that fundamental pleasure endures. Explore America's best donut shops, both historic and modern, at [NearbyDonuts.com](/).