On this day in 1917 the United States Congress approved a declaration of war against Germany, thereby officially entering World War I. There are no longer any living veterans of WWI, however, in 1957 reporters with WBAP attended a VFW convention in Dallas where they met L.J. Smith, a 66 year old WWI veteran who was displaying a rather unique souvenir from WWI — a doughnut.

During WWI doughnuts and coffee were distributed along the front lines to soldiers by the Salvation Army, giving rise to the nickname “doughboy” for American soldiers overseas. During one of these coffee breaks Mr. Smith decided to save one of the doughnuts, and miraculously it survived for over 38 years! In this brief film clip he displays the doughnut-artifact under a glass dome.

[News Clip: Doughboy Preserves 1918 Model Doughnut] on The Portal to Texas History.