Krispy Kreme doughnuts must be indulged with caution. The irresistible urge to lick one’s fingers after fumbling through a box while driving makes them more dangerous than cell phones. But for a couple of generations of Southerners, Krispy Kreme doughnuts have been indispensable staples of hearty breakfasts, after-school treats for car-pooled kids, or late-night gratification for bar-hoppers. Yet once the fabled doughnuts began migrating north to Wall Street, Krispy Kreme assumed a new aura, transformed into a national delicacy as Yankees first gawked, then giddily embraced cravings for fried shortening, flour, and sugar. Metaphors poured forth like sparkling waterfalls of sugary glaze as stockbrokers, jet-setters, and glamorous patrons of the arts compared the doughnut’s craftsmanship to manicured stock portfolios and Stradivarius violins. Krispy Kreme’s praises have been sung in publications as diverse as Elle, Forbes, and The New Yorker.

Krispy Kreme doughnuts were either invented or discovered in 1933, depending on how one interprets history. That year, Krispy Kreme founder Vernon Rudolph bought a Paducah, Kentucky, doughnut shop and a secret yeast-raised doughnut recipe from a New Orleans chef. The shop eventually relocated to Nashville in search of a larger market, where it was primarily a supplier for grocery stores. In 1937, Rudolph moved to Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The alluring aroma of hot, fresh doughnuts drew locals to Rudolph’s doughnut emporium; endless requests for a dozen, which sold for 25 cents, convinced him to open the first sit-down Krispy Kreme doughnut shop.

Vince McAleer, owner of the Birmingham franchise, which includes stores in East Lake, Midfield, and now Hoover, started working at Krispy Kreme in Birmingham in 1975 at age 14, following in the footsteps of his father and uncle, who went to work for the company in 1953. There was no automated, mass production in those days. A cookie-cutter stamped out the circles of dough, which were tossed into frying kettles where they were flipped with chop sticks. McAleer brags that his father could put seven doughnuts on his thumb while operating two hand-fryers with a co-worker, turning out 400 dozen an hour. “It took 13 big-haired ladies to box them up,” McAleer laughs. “Hot glazed is number one, chocolate glazed is number two, the chocolate creme-filled is number three, and the creme-filled is number four. Ninety percent of our sales are those four items. But if you go up North, some of the stores sell more cake doughnuts than they do yeast doughnuts. I think we make the perfect glazed doughnut.”

In less than two minutes, Krispy Kreme’s national stores can make enough doughnuts to stack as high as the Empire State Building. In one year, the company produces enough doughnuts to encircle the Earth twice. And the recent induction of Krispy Kreme’s 60-year history into the Smithsonian officially anoints the doughnut as American as credit card debt and apple pie.

Kid’s Day at the new Hoover Krispy Kreme (1990 New Patton Chapel Road at Highway 31) will be Saturday, November 10, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.