There are some foods that just go together perfectly, and one of the most dynamic duos is the pairing of bacon and eggs for breakfast. While it’s true that the umami flavor of both foods mix perfectly, and both staples offer a good hit of protein in the morning, there’s a real food industry history behind the pairing of bacon and eggs.

The pairing of eggs and bacon took off in the 1920s, and it was no accident. A Beech-Nut Packing Company PR consultant named Edward Bernays was tasked with pushing bacon and eggs as a dynamic duo, and with convincing Americans — who usually preferred light breakfasts — that big breakfasts were better.

Bernays says that he and his team enlisted their company doctor to write to 5,000 other doctors and ask if they felt that a big breakfast was better. They agreed that heavy breakfasts would "improve the health" of Americans, and when the news hit, sales of bacon went up, and hearty egg-and-bacon breakfasts are now a classic.