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community weblog
You ever wonder where that winking pizza box chef came from?
posted by DoctorFedora on Jan 22, 2026 at 11:41 PM
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I enjoyed that, thanks for posting!
posted by Too-Ticky at 2:52 AM
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the first box shown is from Sam's Pizza on Court Street in Brooklyn where I bought a weekly pie when I lived in that neighborhood at the start of the 1990s. I can still smell the pepperoni & grease and would eat a whole pizze from there right now if I could.
posted by chavenet at 4:34 AM
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A similar constant presence is the "laughing cow," which is a brand, but which predates the brand and exists outside of the brand still. Wikipedia has good info (I contributed there).
posted by Mo Nickels at 4:49 AM
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*chef's kiss*
posted by briank at 5:23 AM
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The cow is laughing at salad, of course.
posted by notoriety public at 5:43 AM
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I would think cows would be heavily approving of salad.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 6:03 AM
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I always just thought it was a drawing of the pizza chef at every pizza shop who winks at everybody all the time. Must just be me, hmm.
posted by Rykey at 7:02 AM
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There is another very common west coast pizza box design that the LA times did a writeup on as well
posted by inflatablekiwi at 8:15 AM
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Enjoy your delicious moments.
posted by kirkaracha at 8:21 AM
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The book mentioned in the first paragraph is really good, he's got quite a collection.
posted by dr_dank at 8:31 AM
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Is the chef the first one to say, "You've tried the rest, Now try the best"?
posted by the sobsister at 8:36 AM
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Is the chef the first one to say, "You've tried the rest, Now try the best"?
Yes, but he was trying and failing to use it as a pickup line.
posted by caviar2d2 at 8:41 AM
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I always just thought it was a drawing of the pizza chef at every pizza shop
Why isn't it a picture of whatever the kids are calling hipsters these days?
posted by biffa at 8:48 AM
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This one has always bothered me--the foreground cook is somewhat naturalistically drawn, while background person is straight from toonsville.
posted by working_objects at 9:10 AM
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This is by Scott from Scott's Pizza Tours! One of my favorite tourist activities in NYC, and it's because Scott is more passionate about pizza than most people are about anything. Highly recommend!
posted by StruggleBus at 9:25 AM
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The Sporkful went on one of his pizza tours. It was a fun episode!
posted by feistycakes at 9:30 AM
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I feel like the creation of this book on pizza box art would be a great backdrop for a move like Being John Malkovich.
posted by teece303 at 11:28 AM
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Is the chef the first one to say, "You've tried the rest, Now try the best"?
Or that 'the dough is made fresh everyday, and the sauce is homemade' (or is it the sauce is made fresh everyday, and the dough is homemade)?
posted by BozoBurgerBonanza at 1:50 PM
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So when you see that gesture on a pizza box, or in real life, it's a sign of approval that compares the pizza to a beautiful Goddess. I'm cool with that!
Except in Brazil, where it is interpreted as equivalent to the middle finger or asshole/up your ass as I once discovered, much to my horror, in Rio while attempting to sign into a hotel on our honeymoon. That seemingly simple but language-impaired exchange went south in an instant and I had no idea why until informed the next day by another guest who witnessed the event.
posted by thecincinnatikid at 3:10 PM
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More importantly , teenage me wants to know if the person who invented the little plastic tripod table that keeps the box from getting crushed is rightfully a multimillionaire or what?
posted by caviar2d2 at 3:41 PM
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You mean the "Barbie table"?
posted by wenestvedt at 8:09 PM
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The confident smiling face of Alfred E. Neuman is also based on folk art pre-dating Mad Magazine.
posted by JHarris at 8:12 PM
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I'm disappointed to find there's no connection to the winking, thumbs up/OK chef statues occasionally found outside restaurants around the world.
posted by delicious-luncheon at 3:11 AM
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the person who invented the little plastic tripod table that keeps the box from getting crushed
I've got a post and a song about her for you!
posted by moonmilk at 6:14 AM
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