National Donut Day and America’s 10 Billion Donuts
Today, November 5th, is National Donut Day, one of two days each year when donuts get their moment in the spotlight. The first Friday in June is the original National Donut Day, created by The Salvation Army in 1938 to honor the “Donut Lassies” who served treats to soldiers during World War I. November 5th later joined as a second observance, giving donut lovers another excuse to indulge.
I’ve photographed donuts before from the big fast-food chains, but this time I turned to grocery store classics. These are Entenmann’s, a brand that began in 1898 when William Entenmann delivered baked goods door-to-door in Brooklyn. More than a century later, their boxed donuts have become a household staple, a familiar sight on grocery shelves across America.
Emily (my AI muse and assistant) adds: “Turns out, Americans consume around 10 billion donuts every year, roughly 31 donuts per person. While Entenmann’s doesn’t release exact production figures, reports suggest they’ve produced over 780 million donuts since their early days. That’s a lot of mornings, late-night snacks, and coffee breaks made a little sweeter.”
See more from my Commercial Food Photography at https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000WFAqDJQOgKU
National Double Cheeseburger Day
Today is National Double Cheeseburger Day — a holiday devoted to one of America’s favorite fast food inventions. The double first gained traction in the 1930s and 1940s, when diners realized that two patties and two slices of cheese delivered both value and indulgence. McDonald’s added it to their menu in 1965, and from there it became a staple of the fast food landscape, endlessly copied and re‑imagined.
Over time I’ve photographed many double cheeseburgers for my “Food From Bag to Background” project — documenting them exactly as they arrive, unstyled, on a stark black background. But for today, I wanted to try something different. After a conversation with my AI assistant, Emily, the idea came up: what if instead of stacking burgers, we created a single, continuous double cheeseburger that just keeps going? The result is this vertical column of beef, cheese, and buns — a rethinking of the double cheeseburger taken further than usual.
Because on National Double Cheeseburger Day, isn’t one double never really enough?
To see more food photographed with the same unapologetic eye — from burgers to tacos to sushi — visit my gallery “Food From Bag to Background” here: https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000wQ3fbeEezF0
You might even find your favorite meal looking back at you, larger than life and stripped of all pretense.
🥪 National Eat A Hoagie Day
Forget politics, pandemics, and Wall Street — today it’s all about National Eat A Hoagie Day.
The celebration honors the long, layered sandwich that goes by many names: hoagie, sub, grinder, hero. The tradition traces back to Italian-American communities in Philadelphia in the early 20th century, where the combination of Italian cold cuts, cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, and dressing was piled high into crusty rolls. The name “hoagie” is often credited to Philadelphia shipyard workers nicknamed “hoggies,” who carried these hearty sandwiches to work.
The day recognizes both the sandwich itself and its many regional variations across the United States. While “hoagie” is Philadelphia’s word of choice, most of the country knows them as subs, and in New England they’re just as likely to be called grinders. Whatever the name, the essence is the same: a long roll, stacked with meats, cheeses, vegetables, and that messy-but-perfect balance of oil, vinegar, and seasonings.
For this year’s National Eat A Hoagie Day, I photographed three Jersey Mike’s Original Italian hoagies, cut and stacked against my signature black background. Jersey Mike’s, which started as a single sub shop in Point Pleasant, New Jersey in 1956, has grown into a national chain with over 2,000 locations. They’ve built their reputation on freshly sliced meats and cheeses, rolls baked fresh daily, and sandwiches made to order “Mike’s Way” — onions, lettuce, tomato, oil, vinegar, and oregano.
The hoagie is both a cultural icon and a humble meal — straight from the bag, unstyled, layered with flavor and history.
And if you think hoagies look good, wait until you see what happens when tacos, burgers, and sushi get the same black-background treatment. Explore my ongoing series, “Food From Bag To Background,” here: https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000wQ3fbeEezF0 Just don’t click on an empty stomach.
A Monument to Cheese Pizza
Another entry from the calendar of invented holidays: National Cheese Pizza Day. As if anyone needed a reminder to eat melted cheese on bread. Still, here it is — and so is my monument to it. Two frozen Red Baron cheese pizzas sliced and stacked into a tower of excess, photographed against a black background.
Cheese pizza is the baseline of the whole idea. From Naples in the 1800s with mozzarella and tomato on flatbread, to Lombardi’s in New York serving it to immigrants in the early 1900s, it’s the foundation on which every other topping variation was built. Frozen in the 1950s, it became the fallback dinner most of us know.
So if today calls for honoring cheese pizza, this is mine.
See more in my Commercial Food Photography gallery:
👉 https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000WFAqDJQOgKU
Ten Chili Dogs, Elegantly Served – Because It’s National Chili Dog Day
Nothing says “refined dining” quite like ten chili cheese dogs arranged on a cut‑glass platter. Today is National Chili Dog Day, and what better way to mark the occasion than with a full platter of Wienerschnitzel chili cheese dogs, photographed as if they belong at a formal banquet.
Lined up side by side, the hot dogs are topped with chili sauce and melted cheese, shot against my black background for a polished, commercial look.
Chili dogs have been part of American food culture for more than a century, found in diners, ballparks, and roadside stands. Wienerschnitzel has been serving its own version since 1961, making it one of the most recognizable names for chili dogs in the U.S.
📷 See more of my commercial food photography here:
https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000WFAqDJQOgKU
International Chicken Wing Day
Today is International Chicken Wing Day, marking the popularity of one of the simplest yet most enduring foods in American dining culture. Chicken wings were first popularized in 1964 at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York, when Teressa Bellissimo cooked them in hot sauce and served them as a late-night snack for her son and his friends, creating what we now know as Buffalo wings.
The original Buffalo sauce is a straightforward mix of hot sauce, melted butter, and a few seasonings, creating a distinctive bright orange coating that has defined the category ever since. It’s estimated that Americans consume over 1.4 billion chicken wings on Super Bowl weekend alone, showing how wings have cemented their place as a go-to for takeout, parties, and game day gatherings. Wings remain a staple for bars, fast food, and home kitchens, served in countless variations from mild to extra hot.
This photo of Buffalo wings, photographed on a clean white background, is part of my ongoing commercial food photography project. I photograph foods exactly as they arrive, emphasizing their color, texture, and shape without styling tricks.
You can see more from this series in my commercial food photography gallery here:
https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000WFAqDJQOgKU
National Donut Day – A Stack of Krispy Kreme Tradition
🍩 Today is National Donut Day.
First established in 1938 by The Salvation Army to honor the “Donut Lassies” who served donuts to soldiers during World War I, National Donut Day has grown into a celebration of a uniquely American indulgence.
For the occasion, I photographed an assortment of Krispy Kreme donuts—stacked and unstyled, just as they came out of the box. Glazed, chocolate frosted, pink with rainbow sprinkles, maple, cinnamon sugar, and a few others. No tricks or props, just donuts on a black background.
It’s part of my ongoing “From Bag to Background” project—photographing fast food exactly as it is, isolating it from branding and context, letting it stand on its own.
Krispy Kreme began in 1937 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, when Vernon Rudolph bought a yeast-raised donut recipe from a New Orleans chef and began selling hot glazed donuts through a hole cut in his bakery wall. The brand became known for its light, airy donuts and the signature “Hot Now” neon sign that still draws crowds.
More food images from this series can be found on my website at:
https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000wQ3fbeEezF0/I0000nUG8tfk8Gdc
National Biscuit Day – From Can to Camera
Today, May 29, is National Biscuit Day—a good moment to take a closer look at a humble staple that’s been on American tables for generations. Whether eaten with breakfast, served with fried chicken, or just pulled apart warm from the oven, biscuits have long held a place in American food culture.
For this photo, I used three standard tubes of refrigerated biscuit dough. Part of the experience is the packaging itself: peeling back the paper seam and waiting for that sudden pop as the tube bursts open. It’s a moment of kitchen theater that’s been happening since the 1950s, when pre-packaged refrigerated dough started appearing in supermarkets.
No styling here—just 24 biscuits baked as-is and casually stacked onto a black background. The domed tops, crisp golden crusts, and flaky layers hold up visually without any need for extras.
This image is part of my ongoing From Bag to Background series, which isolates fast food and packaged grocery items from their branding and surroundings to present them plainly, and on their own terms.
You can see the full gallery of food photography at https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000wQ3fbeEezF0/I0000nUG8tfk8Gdc
National Hamburger Day: A Step Beyond the Drive-Thru
Today May 28 is National Hamburger Day!
It’s a day that recognizes one of America’s most iconic and enduring foods—no matter how you stack it. From drive-thrus to diners, from backyard grills to corporate chains, the hamburger has been part of our cultural shorthand for over a century.
For this year’s photo, I went local. These are four double hamburgers from Boy’s Hamburgers in Cathedral City, California. No cheese. No styling. Just toasted buns, shredded lettuce, tomato, sauce, and two grilled beef patties—exactly as served.
I picked Boy’s because for National Hamburger Day, it just felt right to go with a place that proudly puts “Hamburgers” in the name. It’s not a chain, but it’s not trying to be upscale either—certainly great food, a step up from the usual big-name fast food. The kind of spot that’s been doing its thing for years without having to change much.
Part of my ongoing From Bag to Background series, this image isolates the food—no branding, no props—letting the burger speak for itself. More on my website at SecondFocus.com
National Tater Tot Day: A Classic Fast-Food Favorite
Tater tots are more than just a side dish—they’re an American fast-food icon. Originally created by Ore-Ida in 1953 as a way to repurpose leftover potato scraps, tater tots quickly found their way into school cafeterias, diners, and eventually, fast-food chains.
One of the biggest champions of tater tots has been Sonic Drive-In, which has served them since at least the 1960s. Unlike many fast-food chains that focus solely on fries, Sonic made tots a signature menu item, offering them plain or loaded with cheese, bacon, ranch, or chili. Their crisp texture and deep-fried appeal make them the perfect companion to burgers, hot dogs, and milkshakes.
To mark National Tater Tot Day, I photographed Sonic’s signature tater tots, capturing their rich golden-brown color and crispy edges against a dramatic black background. You can see this shot and more of my food photography at http://SecondFocus.com Thanks!
What’s your favorite way to enjoy tater tots? Let me know in the comments.
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