It all began long, long ago, in the forested slopes of the Swiss Alps.  The population had become numerous enough, that one particular Germanic family/clan needed to be known apart from any other clan, so the government assigned them the surname of ROETZ, an Old German word meaning “roots,”  celebrating their sylvan heritage.

Fast forward a thousand years….  OOPS!  Touch the brakes.  Slow down a little.  You’re coming in a bit hot – don’t want you to slam into Woke, or Cancel Culture.  A branch of the family tree broke off and blew across Europe, ending in London, England.  It wasn’t long before entitled, colonial British spelling and pronunciation had reduced it to

RITZ.

One scion of the family made good, and made enough filthy lucre to open an exclusive, expensive hotel in 1909.  Soon, other rich, fancy Ritz hotels were built.

In 1934, in the middle of the Great Depression, NABISCO, the National BIscuit Company began advertising a small, round, rich, flaky, buttery cracker called Ritz.  It was marketed so that ordinary folk could have “a bite of the good life.”  They are great on their own, but their true fame is that any garnish/topping can be added – cheeses, jellies, oysters, pâté.  After almost a hundred years, they are still America’s favorite cracker.