We’re going back to the basics and talking about pumpkin spice

Today, I, a white girl, have started a quest. A search for the origin of a meme, the beginning of an era. A search for the history of pumpkin spice.

If anyone claims not to start their research with Google, they’re either over 40 or lying. Google’s Ngram Tracker can track how often any word or phrase in occurs in a written language across time. So naturally, I searched the occurrence of pumpkin spice in English over the last century, and here’s that graph (full disclosure: I added fall leaves and manipulated the color until the line was this dazzling shade of spicy pumpkin).

Here’s the story that Google Ngram is telling me: pumpkin spice burst onto the English-books scene in 1940 then promptly died only to be vengefully resurrected in 1972. It reached its peak of existence roughly sixteen years ago in 2000. Google can only track up until 2008, so we’re woefully uninformed after that point.

In 2003, the literary golden era of pumpkin spice, Starbucks introduced their seasonal latte. In a Q&A on Quora.com, former Starbucks marketer Paul Williams discussed the initial marketing of the famous drink.

“The fact it was a limited time flavor made it more attractive to customers, kept it special,” Williams wrote. “While every product manager wants their creation to be popular, no one anticipated how popular the drink would be.”

In all my searching, no one has been able to tell me when pumpkin spice lattes became a white girl cliche. But Twitter can tell me that it hasn’t stopped yet.

For Kaity Maines who has worked as a barista both at Starbucks and the University of Utah, that stereotype has been confirmed by her experiences.

“I personally have only made one pumpkin spice latte so far this season, but I’m sure it will increase as it gets cooler outside,” Maines said. “The type of people that buy pumpkin spice lattes, I’ve seen, tend to be late teens to early twenties and women.”

Maines is also probably the first person this year to say that they are indifferent to pumpkin spice in any regard.

“PSLs don’t take any more work than a vanilla latte, at least at the cafe I work in,” she said. “Therefore I’m just indifferent to making them.”

Based on the side of the internet I’ve seen today and the dozens of mean pumpkin tweets I’ve read, I’m willing to call this a happy note, some closure to end on. Do you hear me, internet? One barista is still indifferent to making the pumpkin spice latte. That’s all I can offer you in terms of unique research. I’m exhausted.

And if I’m being honest, I’m not afraid to refuel on pumpkin-laced caffeine. If you think that’s cliche, look into my eyes. See the nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice dancing behind them. Look upon me, pumpkin-spice-white-girl jokers and see that this was wrought by your own hand.

— katherinetaylor@aggiemail.usu.edu

@kd_taylor96