06/23/2026
Before World War II, oregano was not widely known in mainstream American cooking, though it was already used in Italian-American communities.
During the campaigns in Sicily and mainland Italy from 1943 to 1945, hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops served in the region, where many encountered the herb on pizza and in other Italian dishes, often for the first time. Many developed a liking for its warm, pungent, earthy flavor.
When the GIs returned home, they brought this new taste with them. Demand for oregano and Italian-style foods surged. According to food writer and historian John F. Mariani, oregano sales in the United States increased by about 5,200 percent between 1948 and 1956.
