Talk:Fortune cookie

message: Erm... Somebody changed "lucky numbers" to "unlucky numbers", so I'm just gonna change that right back, kay?
Thanks for understanding
--Monk of the highest order 03:43, 24 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Lucky Numbers

message: Aren't these pictures a little unneccessary? If anything, we should only need the opened one.
----
http://www.nypress.com/17/38/food/gershenson.cfm gives more detail on the David Jung story. --Robert Merkel 07:46, 4 Oct 2004 (UTC)
thread_title:  Pictures 

message: Good grief. Can it be, that on Wikipedia, for a term that has both a real life and an internet meaning, we have the real life term, but NOT the internet term?! Shock! Horror! Mark Richards 03:35, 5 Oct 2004 (UTC)
replies: text: it seems like you just added the blurb for it yourself. great.--69.212.100.126 23:12, 14 Oct 2004 (UTC)
thread_title:  Real life / internet! 

message: The French Wiki article (:fr:Fortune cookie) quotes a few sources (in English) that could be used to improve this article. - Mu 10:37, 25 November 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Sources  

message: Does one incident involving numbers from a fortune cookie really deserve half an article? it's really not that interesting... 66.41.59.162 02:56, 19 January 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: * Something like this really does not belong in an encyclopedia. I may remove it. --JHP 22:48, 5 September 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Fortune Cookie Payout

message: I question the sources for the section on this and suggest that it be removed; sounds like *someone* holds to this custom and thought it was universal, as I and many people who I know have never heard of it.  It doesn't seem verifiable.
*Perhaps it is regional?  I've heard of it and so have many people I know.  (No, I'm not the person who added it in the first place.) Crypticfirefly 03:55, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I'll add my own input to this -- I, from California, have never heard of this custom.  I've asked my girlfriend from Virginia about it, and she has never heard of it either.  This seems to be a regional thing if Crypticfirefly's statement is so, but the region should be determined and noted in the entry if it's to stay in the article.  --TouchGnome 08:41, 6 April 2006 (UTC)
replies: text:  * Whoever added this section was just making things up.  Especially suspect was the sentence that claimed seventy percent of people use...  when using statistics you have to cite source.  -Taco325i 13:51, 23 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: To clairify, the part I have heard of is the idea that one must eat the whole cookie for the fortune to come true.  And I'm from the Midwest, if you are wondering.  But here's a Californian source for the "custom" of eating the whole cookie:  "Fortune cookie US invention"   (Article by by Ellie Parvin published in a 1995 issue of the Golden Gater.  Article quotes Nancy Chan of Golden Gate Fortune Cookies Co. for the idea that one must eat the entire cookie.) Crypticfirefly 03:24, 25 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I suggest removing the whole "Fortune cookie in popular culture" section. I don't believe the stuff in this section belongs in an encyclopedia. --JHP 22:54, 5 September 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Fortune Cookie Etiquette

message: Since the fortune cookie is not really Chinese, I suggest that the article should not be titled "Chinese fortune cookie." I recommend that it be moved to "Fortune cookie (food)". --JHP 22:57, 5 September 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Suggested move 

message: I eat the paper. I know lots of people who eat the paper. My parents eat the paper. It is, by definition, a custom in my region. I just thought I would let the world know that this is indeed a part of fortune cookie culture, but every time I add this to the page, someone deletes it. Please, do not delete my change to the fortune cookie page. 
Just to make it clear, that change is that eating the paper is customary in some regions.
:If you want that information to stay in the article, you need to 1) specify what region you're talking about, and 2) provide some kind of reliable source which would confirm your claim. The fact that you, your parents, and "lots of people" you know eat the paper is not something we can verify. If you don't provide a source it will likely keep getting removed. Serpent-A 07:52, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Indeed - I've never heard of such a custom, and to present it as "normal" is certainly wrong.  violet/riga (t) 15:16, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I also have never heard of such a custom, but it seems very believable to me that such a custom would occur. JayKeaton 11:19, 22 October 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Customs  

message: Was anyone else expecting the history of the fortune cookie to read more like the exciting adventures of a Chinese general trapped in prison during the Zoixing Dynasty, and his peoples daring plan to hide secret messages to him in the customary cookies that were sent to his sell. These messages tipped him off about a secret escape plan and the Chinese general escaped, and so the custom of using these "fortunous cookies" with messages inside them is recreated 2500 years later, to this day the Chinese have remembered this honored hero with Fortune Cookies.   Hehe, but just some guy in some American town thought it would be a good money spinner about 80 years ago. I prefer my version JayKeaton 11:17, 22 October 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: It's just a cookie. Try going out once in a while. Joachim5000 12:41, 23 October 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Boring history

message: Why is this here?  Fortune cookies were invented in the U.S., and are primarily an American thing... I don't really see what we can say to broaden the world-view of this article. ~ ONUnicorn (Talk / Contribs) 14:45, 3 November 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: The U.S. contributes significantly to world culture. You probably think that's a bad thing, but remember that the U.S. culture is an amalgamation of cultures from every corner of the globe. Sure, it's not the fairy-tale "melting pot" but no other country contains so many diverse and relatively peaceful people together from EVERY corner of the planet. The culmination of such influences is just as much a reflection of the effectiveness of an individual community as the sum total is of the world. Joachim5000 03:26, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

text: I agree.  The thing should be taken off.  Fortune cookies are American.  --Descendall 09:13, 19 November 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I agree as well.  The "World-view" template seems a little ridiculous.  If they are trying to force the issue through a mistaken belief that there is some non-American Asian ties to fortune cookies, then they are... well, mistaken.  I'm Chinese-American, and when I was in China, not a single person I talked to had ever heard of fortune cookies.  I'm not too sure if they even give them out in Europe.  Somebody should take the tag off. 75.46.28.17 07:58, 9 January 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  Oh yes. The world consists of the US of A, and China. Very broad view indeed. None of the above posts seem to recognise that there are quite a few other continents on this Earth and they have fortune cookies too! --Sumple (Talk) 07:00, 13 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: The fortune cookie is simply not available in New Zealand or Australia, I have been to a few buffet restaurants and takeaways that are frequented by Caucasians and none offers this on the table.  Even across the US border, Canada's Chinese buffet restaurants don't have them either, let alone the HK Chinese migrant owned types in Toronto.  So I don't think why there is such a need to add the Worldwide perspectives. Come back to me when you are able to find anywhere outside the United States of America that offers fortune cookies. --JNZ 00:17, 15 September 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I live in Montreal and every single chinese restaurant here gives away fortune cookies, this is certainly not a Toronto only thing. I am pretty sure that all across the province of Quebec, all chinese restaurants have them. --Vineon 02:01, 16 September 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Thanks for the tip Vineon, apparently now I have got egg on my face LOL. --JNZ 11:27, 16 September 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  World-view template 

message: Fortune Cookies does not point here.
does anyone else think it should? I propose the album page be moved to Fortune Cookies (album), and Fortune Cookies be redirected here. --Sumple (Talk) 06:58, 13 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I concur with your excellent plan. Crypticfirefly 07:32, 22 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  done. --Sumple (Talk) 10:47, 22 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Fortune Cookies 

message: Okay, the thing is, the best you're going to see are probably ad-hoc translations. The translations you have there at fortune cookie are just a few combinations using synonyms of "fortune", "paper slip", "foretell", and "cookie"; using the same pattern, and using more synonyms that I can think of right now, we can come up with probably another 1000 names, and they would all be "correct". So I think it's inherently pointless to try and come up with a Chinese name for "fortune cookie", because as far as I can tell, "the" Chinese name simply doesn't exist. -- ran (talk) 04:22, 13 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Chinese names

message: I live in the UK, and have had fortune cookies at every chinese restaurant I've ever been to. I have also bought bags of them in France and Italy. So it is obviously untrue that they are "unique to the United States and Canada". This may be a badly worded sentence, or it may simply be incorrect individual research, but someone should rewrite or delete it. I would, but I don't know which one should be done. - Oisin(Speak)
Oisin - I have no idea where you live in the UK, but I certainly have never had one here - including almost weekly visits to various restaurants in China Town in London, takeaways or the rest of the south of England. Any other non-US peeps verify Oisins' claim?  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.155.227.83 (talk) 22:38, 25 January 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Unique to North America? 

message: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/16/dining/16fort.html Jayavarman1 (talk) 13:06, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  New article in NYT on origin of the fortune cookie 

message: Yasuko Nakamachi, a researcher in Japan, has devoted years to studying historic roots there, published in 2004 as part of a Kanagawa University report.
If someone is able to track down this 2004 publication, it would be good to have it properly listed as a full official reference.
-69.87.203.122 (talk) 20:23, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  2004 research in Japan 

message: Yasuko Nakamachi, a researcher in Japan, has devoted years to studying historic roots there, published in 2004 as part of a Kanagawa University report.  She traced them to centuries-old small family bakeries making obscure fortune cookie-shaped crackers by hand near a temple outside Kyoto. She has turned up many references in Japanese literature and history. In an illustration from a 1878 book of stories, “Moshiogusa Kinsei Kidan”, the apprentice appears to be grilling wafers in black irons over coals, the same way they are made in Hogyokudo and other present-day bakeries. A sign above him reads “tsujiura senbei” and next to him are tubs filled with little round shapes — the tsujiura senbei themselves. The grills contain round molds into which batter is poured, something like a small waffle iron. Little pieces of paper were folded into the cookies before they cooled.  The cookies are called: tsujiura senbei (“fortune crackers”), omikuji senbei (“written fortune crackers”), and suzu senbei (“bell crackers”).  In an earlier work of fiction by Tamenaga Shunsui (1790 - 1843), a woman tries to placate two other women with tsujiura senbei that contain fortunes.
The families of Japanese or Chinese immigrants in California that claim to have invented or popularized fortune cookies all date the cookie’s appearance between 1907 and 1914.  A number of immigrant families in California, mostly Japanese, have laid claim to introducing or popularizing the fortune cookie. Makoto Hagiwara was a Japanese immigrant who oversaw the Japanese Tea Garden built in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park in the 1890s. Visitors to the garden there were served fortune cookies made by a San Francisco bakery, Benkyodo.  Fugetsudo and Benkyodo both have discovered their original “kata” black iron grills, almost identical to the ones that are used today in the Kyoto bakery.  During the 1920s and 1930s, many Japanese immigrants in California owned chop suey restaurants, which served Americanized Chinese cuisine.
-69.87.199.46 (talk) 02:19, 17 January 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Japanese Roots 

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BetacommandBot (talk) 04:48, 12 February 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Fair use rationale for Image:Canned butcher.gif

message: The ingredients given in the article do not match the normal recipe for fortune cookies in the UK, which are usually dairy free.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.91.191.29 (talk) 08:28, 19 May 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Regional variations on recipe 

message: Anyone have any idea how they make a fortune cookie?
--Airplaneman (talk) 02:18, 7 April 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Fortune-Cookie might help. Eseentially, a small pancake that is then twisted into shape and baked until hardened. --PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 18:54, 29 May 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  How do they make it? 

message: This article states: "usually served with Chinese food in Chinese restaurants as a dessert." Not really, they're more like the chinese restaurant equivalent of an after dinner mint - you certainly wouldn't call one of those a dessert.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.158.61.141 (talk) 17:58, 23 June 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: Dessert?

message: Complete speculation, but seeing the traditional Japanese fortune cookies outside Fushimi Inari-taisha (with the fortunes pinched into the mouth) and then seeing the statues of foxes clutching various objects (including a scroll) in their mouths (see image) makes one wonder if there’s any connection – i.e., if a fortune pinched into the “mouth” of the cookie evokes foxes holding something in their mouth.
I don’t think there is – as the NY Times article indicates, “many confectioneries and candies came with little fortunes inside”, and traditionally the fortunes were inside, not outside – so I think it’s just a fortune tradition.
Still, too tempting to not point out. (^.-)v
:—Nils von Barth (nbarth) (talk) 04:47, 7 November 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Connection with fox statues 

message: The multiply sourced text on fortune cookies sometimes being used to stereotype Asians was removed as "two isolated events".  Here is another source related to a Mulan promotion. The Asian American Journalists Association has said that there is no reason to associate an Asian with a fortune cookie in the media. While the individual incidents do not need to be detailed, it should be mentioned that this is viewed by some as offensive in certain contexts. —Bagumba (talk) 02:17, 25 February 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: Assuming a consensus to keep.  I'll restore, while paring down details on specific incidents.—Bagumba (talk) 23:17, 1 March 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Stereotype 

message: It may be worth noting in the article body that the prophecy fortunes usually always foretell something positive, but this is not always the case, as indicated by the International Herald Tribune article linked in the external links section. Apparently, the authors of those fortunes would like to balance things with some darker sayings, but consumer complaints prevent them from doing so, but every once in a while something slips out.
For example, I got a "bad" fortune yesterday, which prompted me to read this Wikipedia article. The little slip of paper told me: "You will inherit an unexpected sum of money within the year." I am sure the writer of that fortune meant it in a positive way, but to me the message was "your loving parents will die" and I didn't like it at all. ~Amatulić (talk) 18:36, 6 August 2012 (UTC)
thread_title: IHT article in external links

message: You might want to keep your eyes open for other niches that the cookies fill. As a Literacy Volunteer, I went through a training course where we were given suggestions on assembling a bag of tricks to help keep the interest of the students. One suggestion was to bring fortune cookies to our sessions and using the student's fortune as a reading tool. Unfortunately, I can't find this tip on the 'Net tonight, but the it worked well and provided a tasty little snack, too. Thank you, Wordreader (talk) 07:36, 16 January 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Other uses 

message: Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just added archive links to  on Fortune cookie. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add  after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add  to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/20140110115253/http://www.oaklandish.com/TALES/patrons.html to http://www.oaklandish.com/TALES/patrons.html
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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just added archive links to  on Fortune cookie. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add  after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add  to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
*Added archive http://web.archive.org/web/20040818180921/http://sanfrancisco.about.com:80/cs/daytrips/a/fortunecook.htm to http://sanfrancisco.about.com/cs/daytrips/a/fortunecook.htm
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Cheers.—cyberbot IITalk to my owner:Online 16:43, 22 March 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  External links modified 

message: The connection to mooncakes needs to be either supported with one or more credible citations, or else removed.  If there are so "many" people who believe in the stated connection, it should be easy to find references;  if they are not easy to find, it is a clear indication the statement is false (and must therefore be deleted). 
—DIV (120.19.1.177 (talk) 13:32, 22 September 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  Connection to mooncakes 

message: I do not believe the use of the term "stereotype" is appropriate as its not true as it is to say not Chinese. A stereotype for example would be Asian people eat nothing but rice. most lawyers are Jewish. a over generalization those are. i am not sure how it should be rephrased. thoughts? ... also not my goal to offend anyone.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Elstevo1234 (talk • contribs) 07:09, 13 February 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  Asian Stereotype section 

message: "MS. Found in a Chinese Fortune Cookie" (1957) is supposedly written by Kornbluth using notes by "Cecil Corwin", 
who has been declared insane and incarcerated, and who smuggles out in fortune cookies the ultimate secret of life.
--79.153.133.130 (talk) 21:43, 25 January 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyril_M._Kornbluth - "MS. Found in a Chinese Fortune Cookie" (1957)