Deep Dish, Songs, and Commercial Pizza Dough in the 20th Century

Pizza has a long and sordid history. So long and so complicated in fact, that it can be broken down into different eras, and different regions. Here we’ll look at the quick history of American pizza in the 20th century – it includes everything from songs to commercial pizza dough!

• 1905 – The first pizzeria opened in the United States in New York City at 53 ½ Spring Street under the name “Lombardo’s,” although there were no tables or chairs. Today you can still find it if you look for “Patriaca dela Pizza” – you’ll even have a spot to sit!
• 1943 – Deep dish pizza was created for the first time by Ike Sewell at his own bar and grill called Pizzeria Uno. Are you surprised to find out it was in Chicago?
• 1945 – This was an important time for American pizza, as it was when soldiers were coming home after being stationed away during World War II. When they came back from places such as Naples and Sicily, they brought back with them the taste of wholesome and delicious pizza; and it saw a huge surge in popularity!
• 1948 – The first retail pizza dough mix was sold under the name “Roman Pizza Mix.”
• 1950s – Another very important time for pizza’s popularity. This was when huge celebrities such as Jo DiMaggio, Jimmy Durante, Frank Sinatra, and others, started to really request it as part of their regular menu, indirectly endorsing the tasty pie. It was also during this period that Dean Martin released the song That’s Amore, which also made the public more aware of pizza.
• 1957 – Pizza went even more retail as it was at this time frozen dough started being sold in grocery store.
• 1980s – During the late 80’s DeIorio’s shifted it’s focus to frozen products, which included pizza!

Want to know even more about pizza? Come see us at DeIorio’s! We have all the fun facts, tasty, recipes, and of course, the best dough to offer your customers!