JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — For those who grew up in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, gobs are a reminder of where they come from.
“I’ve been making gobs all my life. My mother, we made gobs, but not as often as I make them (now),” said Sheryl Melville, owner of Kinsey’s Kookies and More.
These cake-like cookie sandwiches were the main event on Jan. 31, with local residents pulling up in droves to the Johnstown Galleria to get a taste of this western Pennsylvania staple.
The mall’s annual Gob Fest hosted vendors from across Cambria County, selling dozens of flavors of gobs to lines of people. Many vendors sold out within the first two hours of the event.
In addition to sweet treats, craft vendors, live entertainment and door prizes were offered to attendees, a first-time addition.
History of gobs
Gobs, known as whoopie pies to some in other parts of the state, are king in Johnstown. The Harris-Boyer bakery in the town was the first place to trademark the term gob in 1927. As to how the gob was invented, the story goes that employees on their break were allowed to make and eat anything they wanted.
One employee in the early 1920s grabbed two small chocolate cakes and put icing in between them, creating the first gob. This treat was a staple of the bakery, and was appealing at the time because it could be eaten by hand in bagged lunches.
In the 1960s, over 150,000 gobs were sold each month in western Pennsylvania by the bakery. The origin of the term gob is speculated to be from the packaging the bakery had, which had a sailor on it; gob is sometimes used as another name for a sailor.
Others like Susan Kalcik, a folklorist with the Southwestern Pennsylvania Heritage Preservation Committee, believe the name “gob” originates from the local coal miners; lumps of coal were often called gob piles.
A competing theory about the origins of whoopie pies attributes their invention to Amish housewives. According to Penn State University Libraries, to avoid waste, Amish women would drop excess cake into mounds and bake them. Then, they would sandwich the two mounds together with icing.
As far as the name whoopie pie goes — the common name for these treats in the eastern part of the state — rumour has it that Amish men would open up their lunch pails and exclaim “Whoopie!” when seeing the delicious treat.
Gob fest
Judy Cooper, owner of Judy’s Sweet Treats in Johnstown, has been selling gobs at the annual festival for 18 years. But her roots making this sweet treat go back to her childhood.
“My mom made them when we were young, and taught us how to cook and bake,” she said. Cooper’s love for baking inspired her to open her business over 30 years ago, selling gobs and other sweet treats to businesses in the local area.
Today, she bakes over 18 flavors of gobs, and brought 16 of them to the Gob Fest, including chocolate, Oreo, cherry chip, almond, banana, coconut, strawberry, creamiscle, pineapple, birthday cake, red velvet, etc.
Over the course of six days, she baked 1,050 gobs for the festival — all of which sold out by noon. Cooper took home the best flavor gob award, winning $250. The FARM BBQ and Bakery won the award for best overall gob, also taking home a $250 prize.
Melville, another gob vendor, made 3,000 of these cake sandwiches in 44 different flavors — the line to buy her gobs being over 20 minutes long. This was her seventh year as a vendor at the annual Gob Fest. She opened up her business in 2018 to experiment and expand the flavors of gobs she could make.
But bakeries weren’t the only vendors to throw their hand in the ring: the local fire station and churches participated in the fun, too. In all, there were 20 vendors selling gobs, according to Leo Karruli, owner of the Johnstown Galleria.
Sweet memories, sweet roots
The Johnstown Galleria has been hosting the Gob Fest for almost 20 years now, and Karruli hopes to keep the tradition — and the mall — going. Unlike the typical mall, the Johnstown Galleria is home to mostly local mom and pop stores, instead of national chains.
For some attendees, going to the Gob Fest is an annual ritual. Dianne Stelle, from Hooversville, Somerset County, has been attending the festival since the beginning.
This year was her husband, Chris Stelle’s, first year attending the Gob Fest; they were pleasantly surprised by the turnout: “I thought it was awesome. You walked in, and it sounded like a mall again. I haven’t heard it like this ever,” he said.
Sam Uzelac, from Johnstown, came out to the festival because it brings back sweet memories of loved ones passed. Uzelac was only planning on buying wood at Lowe’s that day, but when he heard the Gob Fest was happening, he raced over to the Galleria.
“When I was in the military, my mother would make gobs and send them to me,” he said. “When I brought the gobs out of the bag, my buddies would say, ‘What’s a gob?”
Uzelac’s mother would send 10 gobs each time so he could share with friends. His favorite gobs were her peanut butter ones. To many attendees and vendors alike, gobs are a family legacy that many hope to continue.
Cooper is one of these vendors who wants to keep spreading the word about these baked goods. She already has plans for the next Gob Fest, and hopes to work with Karruli to bring more food festivals to the Johnstown Galleria.
To her, making and selling gobs is sharing a little slice of Johnstown with every customer.
“It’s keeping my roots, where I’m from,” Cooper said. “When I think of gobs, I think of Johnstown, Cambria County. I deliver to different areas outside of Cambria County, and when I do that, I know people are getting a taste of something from my roots, something from my legacy.”
(Liz Partsch can be reached at epartsch@farmanddairy.com or 330-337-3419.)
