Faces of the Fair: Tom Thumb donuts

Tom Thumb Donuts were invented for the Minnesota State Fair — and introduced the warm mini donut to the fairs of the Midwest.

Thomas Bettenburg, vice president and co-owner of the quintessential fair-food maker, stood at the company's booth at Underwood and Barnes on the state fairgrounds this week to tell the story of Tom Thumb.

The company has been at the fair for 65 years, Bettenburg said. When they started making donuts, they wanted to find a way to indicate that their sweets would be smaller than what fairgoers were used to. So they looked to an international celebrity to help make that point.

"Back then, everyone knew who Tom Thumb was. He was an international celebrity and a personal friend of Queen Victoria. He was widely known, but he was only 39 inches tall," he said. "Everybody knew who Tom Thumb was, and anything 'Tom Thumb' was a miniature version of the full thing."

The popularity of the mini donuts has boomed since then. The company goes through tons of flour, but Bettenburg said they've never actually counted how many donuts they make at the State Fair, their largest event.

"Tis is our home, we were born here, kinda raised here," he said. "The Minnesota State Fair is the end-all and be-all for us.'