Eggo Waffles

Eggo waffles were originally called Froffles.

The brothers behind your favorite frozen waffles took a while to iron out the details of their signature product. 

Working in their parents’ basement in San Jose, California, in the early 1930s, Frank, Anthony, and Sam Dorsa first whipped up their own brand of mayonnaise. 

Since the base ingredient of mayonnaise is egg yolks — and the brothers took pride in using “100% fresh ranch eggs” — they christened their fledgling company “Eggo.” 

Despite launching the business during the Great Depression, Eggo mayonnaise sold like hotcakes, motivating the Dorsas to extend their product line. Soon, they were selling waffle batter — another egg-based product. To simplify shipping, they also whipped up a powdered mix that required only the addition of milk. 

When the frozen food industry took off in the 1950s, the brothers wanted to take advantage of the rush to the freezer aisle. 

Frank Dorsa (a trained machinist) repurposed a carousel engine into a rotating device that could anchor a series of waffle irons, each cooking a breakfast treat that was flipped by a factory employee. 

The machine allowed Eggo to prepare thousands of freezer-bound waffles per hour. 

These debuted in grocery stores in 1953 under the name Froffles, a portmanteau of “frozen” and “waffles.” Customers referred to them simply as “Eggos,” and the Froffles moniker was dropped within two years. Now a Kellogg's-owned brand, Eggo serves up waffles as well as other frozen breakfast treats, with mayonnaise — and the name Froffles — but a distant memory.