The Dunkin' Menu Used To Look A Lot Different

It's inevitable that, with time, all things change. Take the case of Dunkin', the enormous global donut and coffee chain. In earlier times, it was formerly known as Dunkin' Donuts, and in another life, it was originally known as "Open Kettle" — a little snack stop in Quincy, Massachusetts opened in 1948 that sold coffee, donuts, and other pastries, as well as a few sandwiches (via the official website). Although that very first Dunkin' is still standing in Quincy today — restored to its nostalgic 1950s design — as a brand, Dunkin' has changed enormously in its nearly 75 years in business. 

Take into consideration the case of Munchkins, which are part of a whopping 2.9 billion donut sales per year, says Eat This, Not That! – but they were only invented in 1972. Or, that the iconic Coolatta drink didn't even exist before 1997 (per Chicago Tribune). But there's even more ways in which the Dunkin' menu has changed as the years have gone by.

The Dunkin' menu used to look a lot different from the way it does today, primarily because the chain used to mostly focus on its namesake donuts (and a few pastries) — and the coffee into which the treats were meant to be dunked, hence the simple but genius company name. In fact, the whole dunkin' thing was such an important identifier for the brand that shops used to sell a donut with a "handle" — so that you could dip it without getting your fingers soggy (via Brand Eating). 

Though the handle donut was discontinued in 2003, a vintage DD menu published on SoYummy shows that there used to just be a few options to purchase: Frosted and filled donuts (for just 69 cents!), tarts, deluxe pastries like coffee rolls, even some pancakes, and a small range of coffee drinks, tea, and hot chocolate.

Back in the early years, Dunkin' also only had a handful of donut flavors, all of which were fairly standard (jelly, lemon, vanilla frosted), though the pineapple-filled sounds quite interesting. Today, though, Dunkin' boasts somewhere around 80-plus flavors on its American website alone. And other countries have their own unique options, which means you can get wasabi cheese and seaweed cheese donuts in Singapore and dried pork and seaweed donuts in China, according to Dunkin'. As time goes by, we an only imagine what they have in store for us next.