Pumpkin spice is one of the quintessential flavors of fall, inspiring pumpkin spice flavored drinks, desserts, and even dish soap. But why is America so obsessed with it?
Going to a pumpkin patch is considered to be a classic fall activity. Most pumpkins that you can get from a patch can’t be eaten or used for desserts like a sugar pumpkin can. But many people enjoy having them around or outside their home as a decoration.Photo Credit: Marius Ciocirlan / Unsplash
Many people may mourn the end of summer, when the weather gradually gets cooler and a new school year begins. For others, however, summer’s end gives way to another, more enjoyable time of year — fall.
There are many things to look forward to once fall begins. The intense summer heat releases us from its grip for a bit, enabling us to enjoy activities outside again without melting in the sun. We get back into the rhythm of the school year and anticipate three-day weekends and week-long breaks coming up. Many people also look forward to the food: the ones that people usually associate with fall are seasonal fruits and vegetables such as apples, cranberries, squash, and, of course, pumpkins.
People also associate a number of baked goods with fall, including cinnamon rolls, apple cider donuts, apple pie, and pumpkin pie. The thing that these desserts have in common are the spices in their ingredients, usually cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, or allspice (or some combination of those). These spices, which make up pumpkin spice, are a big part of the nostalgia some people have for fall. Studies show that smell is strongly connected to memories, and a whiff of the aforementioned spices can bring back memories of fall. “When I think of spices, I think of fall,” said Amy Beloume ’24.
Of course, part of the reason why many people associate pumpkin spice so strongly with fall is because of America’s infatuation with it. As soon as summer comes to an end (and oftentimes even earlier), grocery stores unveil copious amounts of fall-themed food products: pumpkin spice ground coffee, pumpkin spice cereal, pumpkin ice cream, and even pumpkin bagels. And no one can forget about the famous (or infamous, depending on who you ask) Pumpkin Spice Latte, a seasonal drink offered by Starbucks annually since 2003.
This pumpkin spice frenzy is not limited to food and drinks– some lip balms, deodorants, hand sanitizers, and candles are also scented with pumpkin spice.
While all these pumpkin spice products may seem excessive and even funny (who would buy pumpkin spice deodorant?), there is a huge market in the United States for these items. In fact, data shows that Americans spend around half a billion dollars annually on pumpkin spice products. To put it plainly, the country has an obsession with pumpkin spice.
When it comes down to it, pumpkin spice is just a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and ginger — spices that can all be bought at the grocery store at any time of year. And while pumpkins grow best in the fall, so do an array of other fruits and vegetables. So what makes pumpkins and pumpkin spice so special?
One could argue that it’s because pumpkins have long been connected to American history. They were a staple in the diets of many Native Americans before the European colonists arrived, and when they did, the Europeans also started eating them. The colonists in New England used pumpkin in a variety of ways, including eating it cooked and brewing pumpkin ale.
When you think of the colonists’ relationship with pumpkin, though, the first thing that comes to mind is pumpkin pie. And for good reason: most kids in America have heard the story of the first Thanksgiving, where the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag gathered and shared a feast, with pumpkin pie for dessert. This story has been misrepresented in many ways, and the matter of the dessert is no exception (though it is, in the grand scale of things, not that important).
Though there was probably some dish eaten that included pumpkin, it is unlikely that they ate what we would call pumpkin pie today: they didn’t have ovens suited for baking yet, for one, so they couldn’t bake a pie. Instead, the colonists used hollowed out pumpkins as a makeshift crust, filled them with milk, honey, and spices, and baked them using hot ashes.
Regardless of whether or not pumpkin pie was present at the first Thanksgiving, pumpkin dishes have been eaten around this time of year for hundreds of years. Pumpkins have long been the star of fall, so it makes sense that we associate them so strongly with the season.
But what about pumpkin spice?
Marissa Talushllari
Here is the selection of refrigerated seasonal items at Lidl, a German supermarket franchise. It’s a sea of orange -- the color of pumpkins and the one most associated with fall.
When talking about products that proclaim to be flavored with pumpkin spice, it’s important to realize that they might not actually have any pumpkin in them. Starbucks, for example, was criticized a few years ago when it was discovered that the Pumpkin Spice Latte had no actual pumpkin in it (it now includes pumpkin purée as one of the main ingredients). Pumpkin spice doesn’t have much to do with actual pumpkins — pumpkins don’t, unfortunately, taste like cinnamon and nutmeg.
McCormick & Company, a company that sells spices and spice blends, claims to have created pumpkin pie spice with its launch of the spice blend in 1934. However, the ingredients in their pumpkin pie spice — cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice — have been present in American recipes dating back hundreds of years.
Unsurprisingly, given the long history of the dessert in America, pumpkin spice gained its claim to fame through pumpkin pie. The first record of pumpkin spice in American history comes from “American Cookery” by Amelia Simmons, a cookbook published in 1796. The cookbook included a recipe for “pompkin pie,” which included a spice mixture of nutmeg, mace, ginger, and allspice. Pumpkin pie recipes that followed also used a similar blend of spices, eventually leading to the commercialization of pumpkin pie spice in the early 1900s. Ever since then, pumpkin spice has become a cult classic when it comes to the fall season. “I love pumpkin spice,” said Isabella Vidach ’25, “and cinnamon.”
Some think that pumpkin spice is so popular because it evokes feelings of nostalgia in people — if you grew up eating pumpkin pie around the holidays or carving pumpkins with your family for Halloween, you will probably associate pumpkins and pumpkin spice with the fall. And because pumpkins have long been around in the fall, this is a nostalgia that many Americans have.
Cindy Ott, an associate professor of history, wrote a book entitled Pumpkin: the Curious History of an American Iconin which she presented her ideas as to why pumpkins are so popular. Because more Americans moved away from rural areas after the Industrial Revolution, she argues, they felt nostalgic for the life they had left behind. “We’re celebrating the nostalgia for this old fashioned, rural way of life, that nobody ever really wanted to stay on, but everyone’s always been romantic about,” Ott wrote in her book.
Companies have capitalized on this popularity by introducing innumerable pumpkin spice products that the American public inhale like they would a slice of freshly baked pumpkin pie (or, if you want something you can actually breathe in, a pumpkin spice air freshener). The Pumpkin Spice Latte has become something of a cultural sensation, spreading to both large coffee corporations and smaller cafés alike. Most people, even if they don’t have strong opinions on pumpkin spice, would probably be able to recognize what it is by its smell or taste.
When it comes to pumpkin spice, some people are die-hard fans, swearing by their favorite flavor in coffee, pancakes, cookies, and more. Others detest pumpkin spice so much that they have even created T-shirts that read “Anti-Pumpkin Spice Club.” Most people fall somewhere in the middle. “I like pumpkin spice stuff, but I don’t go out of my way for it,” said Field Palermo ’26.
Personally, I never gave much thought to pumpkin spice before writing this article. I’ve always liked pumpkin pie and other desserts related to fall, but I never really stopped to consider why. I recently tried the Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks, though, and I could barely finish it — it smelled good, but the taste wasn’t what I was expecting (admittedly, I was expecting it to taste like a liquefied pumpkin pie). Other than the pleasant aroma of the drink, it didn’t seem like a ‘fall drink’ at all to me. Obviously, because Starbucks has been offering the Pumpkin Spice Latte every fall for twenty years with huge success, most people would disagree.
After all, pumpkin spice is more than just a spice blend used in drinks and desserts. It’s a symbol of fall and all the joy that comes with the season: leaves falling from trees, the cooler weather, and the impending holidays. To those who prefer the cooler months to spring and summer, the unveiling of pumpkin spice products around September is a sign of better things to come.
Some think that pumpkin spice is so popular because it evokes feelings of nostalgia in people — if you grew up eating pumpkin pie around the holidays or carving pumpkins with your family for Halloween, you will probably associate pumpkins and pumpkin spice with the fall. And because pumpkins have long been around in the fall, this is a nostalgia that many Americans have.
