The story
In early 1800s America, hot cakes were griddle cakes, often johnnycakes made with cornmeal. They were sold at fairs and bake sales, fresh off the griddle.
Like most pancakes, they were much better hot than cold. So they usually sold as soon as they were made, and a crowd would wait for the next batch.
A penny bought one, which made them an easy treat for a crowd. Vendors could hardly keep up, and a cake left to cool was a cake nobody wanted.
By October 1830 a newspaper in Buffalo, New York, described goods “Going like hot Cakes: at one cent a-piece.” In 1839 the writer Charles F. Briggs had a character predict that something would “sell like hot cakes.”
From there the phrase spread through business talk. By 1900 it was in use across the English-speaking world.
