The first days of fall have passed, and Halloween is just around the corner. Pumpkin carving, apple picking, and sweater weather has arrived, but what people are really crazy about is pumpkin spice flavored everything!! There are pumpkin spice donuts, bagels, muffins, and chips. Pumpkin-spice beer is even an option. More bizarre pumpkin products – such as dog treats and toothpaste – are also available. The US pumpkin-spice trend is bigger than ever, according to Nielson. It says sales of pumpkin products have grown by 79% since 2011, totaling $361,000,000, and nearly 40% of consumers purchased a pumpkin-flavored item last year. On top of all of these pumpkin spice products, what people really cannot get over is the PSL (pumpkin spice latte). So where did this spice come from and why does everyone love it?

First Origins

According to BBC, it all started with The Great Pumpkin Route, the name given to the path followed by those trading a rare and mostly sour-tasting spice found in northern Mongolia with people across the Arab region. When Persian merchants decided to add the sweeter and milder cinnamon to the unpalatable pumpkin spice (a decision we can still thank them for today), the game changed for good.

American Debut

It’s said that American colonists indulging in Thanksgiving festivities would open up the pumpkins and fill the insides with spices, milk and honey, which may have been the precursor to the modern pumpkin pie. In 1796, in what has since been named America’s first cookbook, Amelia Simmons published a recipe for “pompkin pudding,” which referred to a sort of pie with stewed pumpkin, nutmeg and ginger.

How We Know the Spice

Several generations later, we can thank McCormick for the first creation of a packaged tin of “Pumpkin Pie Spice” in the 1950s, which included cinnamon, nutmeg and clove (but not actually any pumpkin). It took on the job of perfectly complementing the pumpkin itself in any type of pumpkin treat a person might desire to make.

Everyone’s Obsession

Despite the rise in popularity of pumpkin spice throughout the second half of the 20th century, it’s unlikely anyone could have predicted the hype that has more recently taken place, as a direct result of the famous PSL. Within a few days after its inception, Peter Dukes, director of espresso Americas for Starbucks, knew the company had found gold. The recipe remained unchanged for 11 years, until Starbucks decided in 2015 to add in actual pumpkin, most likely as a response to skeptics looking for the real deal. “It’s still the fall-inspired drink Starbucks customers have loved all along.”

Why We All Love It

According to Cindy Ott, professor of American Studies at St. Louis University and author of the book Pumpkin: The Curious History of an American Icon, our pumpkin obsession is linked to nostalgia for our country’s rural past, which people often romanticize (even if they don’t actually want to move out to the country).

While pumpkin spice has been around for forever, it made its trendy debut in 2011 and now people can’t get enough! The hype for pumpkin spice anything and everything continues to grow every fall season and it is not slowing down!