Born June 17th 1903 'Wakefield was educated atFramingham State Normal School Department of Household Artsin 1924. Then, she worked as adietitianand lectured about foods. In 1930, she and her husband Kenneth Donald Wakefield (1897-1997) bought a tourist lodge (toll house) in the town ofWhitman, MassachusettsinPlymouth County. Located about halfway betweenBostonandNew Bedford, it was a place where passengers had historically paid a toll, changed horses and ate home-cooked meals. When the Wakefields opened their business, they named the establishment theToll House Inn. Ruth cooked and served all the food and soon gained local fame for herdesserts. The restaurant had many visitors, including Massachusetts' SenatorJohn F. Kennedy. Her chocolate chip cookies soon became very popular.[

Ruth contacted Nestlé and they struck a deal: The company would print her recipe on the cover of all their semi-sweet chocolate bars, and she would get a lifetime supply of chocolate. Nestlé began marketing chocolate chips to be used especially forcookies. Ruth wrote acookbook,Toll House Tried and True Recipes,[

that went through 39 printings starting in 1930.[

Wakefield died following a long illness in Jordan Hospital inPlymouth, Massachusetts.[

Resources

Top Categories

Product

Company