Holiday Throwing Pies

Or: A New Family Tradition Might Just Be Your Last

“To throw a proper pie, it must be generous of custard.”— Mrs. Beeton, upon learning her husband had given her syphilis.

It was Mabel Norman who threw the first custard pie in the film A Noise from the Deep (1913). The target was her screen husband Fatty Arbuckle’s face. The gag became so popular that families have been throwing dessert items at each ot…