Fortune Cookie History
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Messages in Cake: A Delicious Plot for Uprising
In 13th and 14th century China, when it was occupied by the mongols, plans were made in Peking to uprise and retake china. So it goes that a patriotic revolutionary named Chu Yuan Chang disguised himself as a Taoist priest and handed out moon cakes made of Lotus Nut Paste, which the Mongols had no taste for, replacing the yolk of the cake with messages, instructions that would direct the uprising. This uprising successfully established the Ming Dynasty, and the tradition of wishing someone goodwill or fortune by putting a message in a moon cake.
Worker Morale: Happiness is a Cookie
During the building of America's railways, during the Moon Festival, chinese workers had no moon cakes, but sweet, crunchy biscuits to put messages for eachother in. As the Chinese settled in San Francisco, these cookies became something of a cottage industry.
The Anti-Drug, Advertising Tradition
Since the cookies were so popular in the US & Canada, some companies buy advertising space on the reverse side of the fortune. Also, Hong Kong used it in Anti-Drug campaign, and the US followed suit soon after.