What’s known, and loved, as a napoleon in the US, is a tompouce or Tompoes in the Netherlands. An Amsterdam baker was the first to name it after a popular Dutch circus dwarf, Jan Hannema, 2′ 3”, who performed as Admiral Tom Pouce. Jan was preceded on the circus stages by P.T. Barnum’s 3′ 4” Admiral Tom Thumb who in the mid-1800s visited Holland, and became the talk of the town.
In the US, the word tompouce never took root. The word napoleon did, familiar to most people’s minds because they learned in school about the 19th century’s French emperor. But the more likely explanation is that he had nothing to do with it. The Italians claim ownership of the pastry and will tell you it originated in Naples where it is known as the napolitano. When the delicacy crossed the Atlantic together with millions of Italian immigrants, Americans quickly corrupted the word to napoleon.
