Happy Pancake Day

I found this fantastic picture of some housewives taking part in the world famous Olney Pancake Race, circa 1950. I wasn't really aware that people took part in pancake races but apparently this tradition is so popular and fun that some Americans decided to copy it and take it to Liberal, Kansas.
I've never really known why we celebrate Pancake Day, I'm not a religious person and to be quite frank I am ignorant about most religious festivities. For this reason I decided to do some investigating on the net. I discovered that Shrove Tuesday is the last day before Lent and therefore in the past was the day when households had to use up all the fats and eggs they had in the house, since they were products that were forbidden during Lent. Fats and eggs, the ingredients for a good Pancake! To find out more you can go to this pancake happy page.