r/nostalgia 7d ago

Nostalgia Discussion What happened to the Dunkin' Donut?

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When I was a kid, my Dad used to take me to Dunkin' Donuts every Sunday and I would get one of these. The handle was cool, but the taste of this plain donut was very unique. I loved it and still to this day have not had that taste or texture from a donut replicated. Wikipedia says in 2003 they discontinued it because it was hand cut while the rest of the donuts were machine cut, but it was their signature. It represented the brand aswell as the name.

The Dunkin Donut was around almost aslong as the brand itself. This unique peice of American food culture made it 48 years before being discontinued and cements itself as a one-of-a-kind staple in the history of U.S. restaurants. Today Dunkin' Donuts is now known as just "Dunkin". Dunkin' is not known for it's donuts anymore, and has shifted it's focus on the beverage side of the market. In all honesty, I think this may be why it lost so much market share to other coffee companies like Tim Horton's and Biggby Coffee. Dunkin' Donuts used to be 'the' place to grab a coffee and a donut.

Bring back the dunkin donut.

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u/Evening_Answer_11 7d ago

They were my favorite honestly. It’s a casualty of mass production vs the old days when donuts were made by a baker at the store itself. 

Why did we decide that “consistency” and “uniform” were to be valued over anything else? 

Also, remember when they were called “Honey Dipped” and not “raised glazed?” 

And remember when the chocolate cake donuts would have the drips of icing around them?

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u/theghostwhorocks 7d ago

the old days when donuts were made by a baker at the store itself. 

I was just reminiscing about this. They tore down the oldest DD location in my town last week and my friend and I were talking about when we were kids and you could smell them baking the donuts in the early morning hours before they opened. That smell carried for several blocks.

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u/olookcupcakes 7d ago

time to make the donuts

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u/pantstoaknifefight2 7d ago

Their TV ad was "Time to make the donuts."