When I came in this morning, my editor asked me if I wanted to write about National Tater Tot Day. Why wouldn't I? We've already blogged about National Margarita Day, Pie Day, Tequila Day, and a boatload of other bullshit holidays. Why not give people a half-ass excuse to stuff a plate full of miniature potato goodness into their faces? Besides, a quick search of Twitter proved that people were pretty fucking jazzed about Tot Day.
I found this totally awesome Napoleon Dynamite clip (below) and a handful of bars and restaurants that I could cite for a handy guide for Dallas tot consumption. But then it occurred to me: Most food holidays celebrate a type of food -- cakes, pies, hot dogs and the like. National Tater Tot Day would be a celebration of a specific product made by one company -- in this case, the fine folks at Ore-Ida, who invented theTater Tot. That sounded fishy to me.
I followed the link Joe had sent me to MyFoxDFW.com, which covered the holiday and linked to Foodimentary.com, a website that compiles every food holiday known to man, and lists today as National Tater Tot Day.
The website is well designed and lists numerous resources that further compile and list food holidays, with a small disclaimer that states "many of these sites seem old or beta, but most of the content is sound and reliable." But some of those sites don't list a holiday for February 2, and those that do refer to National Heavenly Hash Day. Tater Tots are heavenly, sure, but that's a stretch.
I decided to call Ore-Ida, to see if they had ever heard of a national holiday celebrating what is arguably their finest offering to the culinary world. (Yes, folks, this is my job.)
They'd never heard of it, but they put me in touch with H.J. Heinz Corporation, which owns the tot manufacturer and also happens to sell the number one condiment that goes with them. While the people I got on the phone had also never heard of the holiday, they put me in touch a media relations group. I'm still waiting on a call back, but for now I think I'm ready to call National Tater Tot Day bogus.
Not that you need a good reason to build a Totzilla or eat deep fried, processed potatoes. I'll take mine cooked in duck fat with a side of mayo, please.
Update: The dude who got Tot Day going on Twitter just emailed me and admitted that he made the shit up:
You got me!Yes indeed! I created this holiday in 2009. It's my business to celebrate food every day. Not every day of the year is "taken" so I proclaim this on Twitter. People retweeted and shared it. Then Boom! It exists.
So that's that.
