This is 99% invisible. I'm Roman Mars.

In the mid-1950s, Stephen Chen attended a primary school called Buckingham in Cambridge, Massachusetts, right by the Charles River.

At that time, there were no Asians in the whole school, so they were trying to diversify a little bit.

Actually, there were exactly two Asians, Stephen and his sister.

Every spring their school had a fair called Buckingham Circus with games and

activities for the students. Parents would put on a bake sale showing off their dishes.

One year, Joyce Chen decided to bring in egg rolls.

My mom did egg rolls, which were more kind of Americanized egg rolls, not the traditional

Chinese egg rolls.

As in, the egg rolls weren't like the ones Chinese families would typically eat.

That's producer, Shirley Wong.

Her recipe for egg rolls back then used thicker shells and half a pound of hamburger.

She's thought that maybe it'll be more recognizable for the American public.

Just in case the egg rolls weren't well received, Joyce came with a backup, a plate of pumpkin

cookies. She dropped off her dishes and went home to clean.

When she came back, the egg rolls were missing.

And the first thing in her mind was, well, maybe they didn't sell, they didn't know what it was, but as you got to the table, the parents

reminding the food table said, you know, Mrs. Chin, those egg rolls that you made, they sold

out completely, can you do and make more? Joyce was thrilled she made them every

year even after her kids graduated from the school. At the school fair they would

you know announce through the public the PA system that the Joyce and Agrooms have arrived in people who would be rushing over to get them.

Joyce and her family immigrated from Shanghai pushed out of the country during the Chinese Communist Revolution.

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