The First Pizza Hut Pie Delivered To The White House Was Ordered By Barbara Bush
Over the last six decades, Pizza Hut has pushed boundaries on where and what it delivers — and to whom. A Pizza Hut pie was the first physical good purchased via the internet, and the chain was once even the largest global purchaser of kale. Pies have been sent to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro and also to Russian cosmonauts in outer space. In 2001, the Texas-based chain sent a heavily salted salami pizza to the International Space Station — an out-of-this-world record for the longest delivery in history.
Back on Earth, Pizza Hut has guest-starred in more than 19 movies and was even the first pizza ever delivered to the White House — and the recipient was none other than the late Barbara Bush. The order was made in 1989 by the then-first lady, who was throwing a pizza party for her "Reading Is Fundamental" program, the largest nonprofit children's literacy organization in the country. (Pizza Hut has a similar reading program called "BOOK IT!")
Now, to celebrate the brand's noteworthy accolades and its 60th birthday, Pizza Hut has created a limited-edition Double Cheesy Crust Pan Pizza. The brand-new pie — a hybrid of its traditional Stuffed Crust and Original Pan pizzas — has a giant ring of cheese baked into a pan crust topped with a heaping layer of toasted Parmesan. Each slice is peppered with a Parmesan and oregano blend.
"In addition to winning over pizza fans with innovations like the Double Cheesy Crust Pan Pizza, Pizza Hut has also won over hearts, becoming part of the fabric of American pop culture," chief marketing officer Zipporah Allen said in a release. "Whether it's making an appearance on the silver screen, during national sports moments or changing the way we order food, Pizza Hut has proven time and time again that No One Out Pizzas the Hut."
Since its conception, Pizza Hut has proven to be more than your average pizza delivery brand. The company dates back to 1958, when Wichita State University students and brothers Frank and Dan Carney opened the very first location with a $600 loan from Mom. That restaurant shuttered years ago, but has recently been repurposed as an interactive museum open to the public for free. For more trivia on the cheesy chain that recently replaced Papa John's as the official pizza of the NFL, here are 25 things you didn't know about Pizza Hut.