Fluff Ain't Foolin' with their Lawsuit

With parents hailing from the Midwest, little Bostonist was not exposed to locally-created Fluffernutter sandwiches until Kindergarten when a lunch mate pulled out what appeared to be some strange variation of PB & J. Turns out it was Marshmallow Fluff and peanut butter on Wonder Bread. (This was the 80s, so nutritional value for kids was lacking a bit back then.) We've been hooked on this sandwich ever since, so when we heard that the company that makes the Fluff, Lynn-based Durkee-Mower, filed a lawsuit over their Marshmallow Fluff, we had to look into it. It seems that they are upset over another company using their registered trademark "Fluffernutter" without their permission. The Williams-Sonoma Company sold a chocolate-peanut butter-marshmallow-fudge item this past holiday season and called it "Fluffernutter" (see image below). When Durkee-Mower finally got wind of this, they decided to take the upscale culinary company to court. (It doesn't help either that they packaged the candy in a nostalgic tin and isn't half the appeal of Marshmallow Fluff the retro feel of it all?) We'll keep you posted on this one, but Bostonist is assuming that Williams-Sonoma won't be selling the fudge come next December.

For those interested in a little bit of local history, the origins of Marshmallow Fluff date all the way back to 1917 when Archibald Query, a Somerville resident, began creating the white stuff in his own kitchen and peddled it door-to-door. Unfortunately, World War I slowed down business and he ended up selling the recipe to Durkee and Mower for $500 when the war ended. From there, the company tried to market it as "Toot Sweet Marshmallow Fluff" (get it Bostonist readers? "Tout Suite"?) Actually no one ended up getting the pun, so they changed to plain ol' "Marshmallow Fluff" and have been selling it ever since. They still make Strawberry Fluff and Raspberry Fluff, which you can purchase on their website. Since this is New England though, you can pretty much find it in any area supermarket.