fancy!

i'm not sure why it took me so long to wonder about this, but does anyone happen to know the origin of the phrase "fancy ketchup"? i'm just curious where the term first appeared and whether there was some particular reason for it beyond a hopelessly transparent attempt at marketing.

i've done some web research and found several ketchup FAQs and a whole bunch of websites with commentary on the subject, of varying cleveness but no actual informational value. no one seems to know when ketchup became fancy. even Cecil Adams has nothing to say on the subject.

besides, fancy is just a really great word. say it with me. fancy! fancy! fancy!