Had another one of those random thoughts. This one involved some comfort food. I haven’t had any of this particular treat in a long while and was wondering if it was still available. I could only remember they were called Pilot crackers. Not knowing if this was a brand name or not I went to the ultimate resource, Google. Typing in Pilot crackers gave me immediate results. The crackers I remembered where there alright, Nabisco Crown Pilots. No longer being manufactured by the Nabisco company ! But like a Paul Harvey episode, that isn’t the rest of the story.
I learned that this wasn’t the first time production had been stopped. Eleven years ago Nabisco ceased production. A letter writing campaign and a story on Good Morning America followed. Charles Osgood had intervened. Production was resumed.
I am always interested to learn new things. I remembered these crackers from my Great Grandfathers. He always had a box handy and would let me eat them smeared with butter. Delicious. Also tasty mixed in your chowder. I never realized they were mostly a regional thing. The New England area is the hot bed for Pilot Crackers. Especially Chebeague Island, Maine. It is on this Island that Donna Miller Damon lives. It was through her efforts, and others that production was resumed in 1997. She is once again being called to battle. This woman is my new hero.
 Another name for these crackers is hard tack. I had heard of hard tack before but didn’t associate the two. Made as early as 1792 it was a staple on sailing ships. Requiring no preserving other than being kept dry, it would last almost indefinitely. That is the reason they became so popular in the New England area. Well,who knew. I just grew up eating them and they were taken for granted.
 They are available from different manufacturers. Two of these manufacturers are in Hawaii ! You don’t get much farther away from Maine than Hawaii ! You can ,of course,order some of them on the Internet. I checked out the price and let me tell you Grandpa just rolled over in his grave. Seventeen dollars for a 1.5 lb. tin. That doesn’t include shipping and handling. I probably ate that many in one sitting along with a half pound of butter !
Nabisco says the demand doesn’t justify  making them. It is these Pilot Crackers that were the very first product they made. The argument could be made that Nabisco owes those crackers  its’ very existence and that’s the thanks they get. They’re not needed !
Times do change and products come and go. I will change with the times. I won’t be writing any letters to Nabisco. I will be sending scathing E-Mails however. How dare they diss the Pilot Cracker ! It is an old friend. I sure wish I had some right now.