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Winnipeg Free Press - Print Edition - March 25, 2010 A2

Left out of the group? Chew on an old cookie
Nostalgia brings back sense of belonging
By: Shannon Proudfoot



A Jeanne's Bakery cake can evoke all kinds of nostalgic emotions in those who long for a taste of home.

Feeling left out? You'll probably gravitate toward foods that filled your fridge, programs that were on television and cars that populated driveways years ago, a new study suggests.

And what's more, people find genuine comfort and a sense of belonging from nostalgic products when they're feeling forlorn, according to the latest issue of the Journal of Consumer Research. "Nostalgic recollections tend to be much more likely to include other people and people you feel emotionally close to than they are to include recollections of you doing things by yourself," said Katherine Loveland, a PhD candidate in marketing at Arizona State University and co-author of the study. "When you consume a nostalgic product, it's sort of prompting all these memories in your brain of times when you consumed this product in the past with close others."

To test this and create a feeling of social exclusion in the lab, the researchers set volunteers up with a computer game called Cyberball, in which they were told they would be playing with three other people who would decide how often to toss a ball their way. In reality, they were playing with a computer that decided whether to play fair or opt to exclude the volunteer after the first few tosses.		   The researchers measured people's need to belong after playing the game, after asking them to choose between nostalgic and contemporary products such as cookies and shower gel, and then again after they'd consumed those nostalgic products. They wondered if simply choosing a nostalgic product would be enough to make people feel less left out, Loveland said -- but they found it's actually eating that brand of cookie from childhood or watching that favourite TV show from university that gives people a boost.

"We found it's the act of consuming a nostalgic product that does make you feel connected to other people again and satiate(s) your need to belong," Loveland said. "We thought it was really cool that when we gave them a nostalgic cookie, it made them feel all better."

The human need to feel included is so powerful other researchers who have run the Cyberball experiment and told participants the other players were neo-Nazis found the volunteers were offended when they believed the skinheads were choosing not to play with them, Loveland said.

"We have such an innate need to belong that we're upset when we're rejected even by people that we hate," she said.

Many of the studies for the paper were conducted in the Netherlands with nostalgic brands unfamiliar to most North Americans, but the U.S. studies pinpointed the movie The Sandlot and TV shows like Saved By the Bell and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air as nostalgic fare for university-aged young adults, and the Mini Cooper and Volkswagen Beetle as nostalgic cars for people of varying ages. Those associations suggest there are some universally nostalgic products and others that are unique to certain age groups, Loveland said.

Nostalgia is also driven by geography, if Jerry Stubbs' Nostalgia Foods is any indication. Stubbs founded the company a year and a half ago after mulling over the idea for years, he said, and he now ships sentimental Winnipeg-only food to former residents throughout North America, averaging one or two orders each day, ranging in cost from $100 to $500.

There's a "tremendous" emotional pull to local products like Jeanne's cakes and Gondola Pizza for people who long for a taste of home, he said.

-- Canwest News Service




Winnipeg Free Press - Sunday, April 16, 2006

Icons: We dream of... Jeanne
Local bakery's unique cakes are the sweet stuff of Winnipeg legend

HOWZABOUT this for "taking the cake"?

"It was my husband's 45th birthday," says Marianne Savard, "and I did what I always do.  I called Jeanne's Bakery on Notre Dame and ordered a Jeanne's Cake to be delivered to the IGA on Provencher.

"When I went to pick it up on the day of the party, however, it wasn't there."

Befuddled, Savard asked the clerk to double-check.  "She couldn't find it anywhere, then she looked in the log book and said, 'Oh, here's why.  You've already picked it up.'  I said, 'What? I didn't pick it up.' So then she showed me a receipt with the signature of the person who had paid for it.

"I couldn't believe it -- who would buy a cake with 'Happy Birthday, Bert' written on it?  I mean, I love Jeanne's Cakes, but what kind of person could possibly want one that bad?"

Apparently, some people have no shame when it comes to craving the legendary Winnipeg delicacy.  Jerry Penner, the current owner of Jeanne's Bakery, is actually compiling testimonials like Savard's.

"We hear so many stories about Jeanne's cakes, often from people just standing in line, that we thought we'd try to put together a little history and print it on the boxes,"  he says.

Rest assured that Penner has no plans to change the name of the local institution's signature sensation to the Jerry's Cake.

"I'd be crazy to," says Penner, who bought the business three years ago from the grandson of cake matriarch Jeanne Van Landeghem.  Indeed, the log-style confection, renowned for its shortbread crust, real butter icing and Belgian chocolate swirls, is as much a part of Winnipeg's ethos as the Salisbury House Nip.

  

Van Landeghem made a name for herself almost 60 years ago during a royal visit.

"In the 1940s, the Queen was being entertained at Government House," says Penner.  "Jeanne was asked to bake danties for the occasion and from what I understand, the Queen liked them so much she asked Jeanne in for a private visit."

More recently, actress Jennifer Lopez was invited to give a piece a chance while in town on a shoot.  "Her birthday fell during the filming of Shall We Dance? and a cake was sent over.  Before she left town, she ordered two more," boasts Penner.

"I've been in the baking business for over 30 years -- I've actually travelled a fair bit all over the world as well -- and I've never run across a similar product," he adds.

While birthday festivities do make up the bulk of the hundreds of daily pre-orders, Penner says there are some customers who will mark any occasion that comes along with a Jeannes Cake.

"Dog's birthdays, funny anniversaries, you name it.  People will even invent a celebration in order to get a cake."

A word of warning:  If you didn't pick up an Easter cake before reading this article, you may already be out of luck.  "Easter is definitely our busiest time of the year," says Penner.

How about those loyal ex-'Peggers who, whenever they visit, make Jeanne's Bakery their final stop on their way out of town?

"Just recently there was a businessman in from Toronto who picked one up on his way to the airport," says Penner.  "It turned out that his flight had a long wait on the tarmac and people were getting so unhappy that he broke out the cake and shared it with everyone.  I hear it had a very calming effect."

Jeannes Bakery, 931 Notre Dame Ave., is open Tuesday through Friday, 9 AM to 5:30 PM; Saturday from 9 AM to 5PM.


 Winnipeg - June 2, 2004

Jeanne's Bakery Serves Up Famous Cakes to Martin

For generations, those celebrating birthdays in the Boswick family have made a trip to Jeanne's bakery for her famous cakes.  But this was the first time they'd ever bumped into a Canadian Prime Minister while picking up the sweet treat.

The Prime Minister stopped the campaign bus so he could get a quick tour of the institution on a swing through the city.  Just as he arrived at the bakeshop, June and Walter Boswick were at the cash about to purchase a birthday cake for a party this Saturday.  It's something June has done since she was a child, and now does for her grandchildren.

"I was very surprised to see him," said June of the PM.  "I recognized (local candidate) David Northcott, and I think he's done great work for the city."

   The staff let Martin in the kitchen of the west-end bakery to show him the tools of the trade.  Legend has it that the quaint bakery rose in popularity because it used to make a type of cookie called "dainties" for the Queen Mother, said Francine Cianslone, a Martin supporter who helped arrange the Liberal leader's visit to the bakery.

"Every time a government-related function happened they would provide the dainties, and the business has been passed down through the generations," she said.  "It's known as one of Winnipeg's greatest," enthused the forth-year criminology and psychology student at the University of Manitoba.

Before leaving, Martin purchased four of the famous log cakes - two banana and two marble, complete with chocolate shavings - and handed them over to hungry journalists.

"They are delicious, I've had them myself," said Cianslone.

"I think it was very important that he visited such a significant Winnipeg institution.  It's certainly a well-known place in this city, and we try and tell tourists about it," she said.



 Winnipeg - Winter 2005

The Icing on the Cake

It can't be described.  In can't be imitated.  There's simply nothing like a Jeanne's cake.

If you spot someone on the street carrying a rectangular box with a telltale string wound twice around, you know exactly what's inside.  What you see someone at the airport with a cakebox in hand, you know an ex-Winnipegger is going to get a treat from back home.  It's common knowledge that Winnipeggers are divided into two distinct categories - those who love the shortbread crust and those who despise it.

For over half a century, youngsters have been pleading for a banana Jeanne's birthday cake while couples celebrating a silver anniversary opt for a marble log large enough to feed a burgeoning family.  One look at those pastel flowers and chocolate shavings and everyone is asking for a piece that's just a little bit larger.

  
Look closely on the box and you'll find an interesting line.

"Purveyors to our royal visitors at Government House."

This lofty designation dates to the late 1940's when the royal family came to visit.  It was Jeanne's Bakery that supplied the danties at government house.  Apparently the treats were a big hit and Jeanne's was granted the privilege of becoming the official supplier.  The story goes that Jeanne Van Landeghem, the bakery's namesake, would go to government house to have danties and tea with any visiting royalty.

Jeanne's cakes have always had a celebrity appear.  Jennifer Lopez celebrated her birthday in Winnipeg while she was here shooting "Shall We Dance?"  Her cake came from Jeanne's.  Reportedly, her handlers ordered a couple more cakes several weeks later.  Like us, they were hooked.

The bakers at Jeanne's tell us it takes only 15 seconds to decorate a cake.  For some of us, it takes about that long to devour a piece.