National Cheese Pizza Day is upon us—not to be confused with National Pizza Day (July 10) or National Pizza Party Day (third Friday in May), similarly important days of worship for lovers of the cheesy staple. With 40% of Americans eating pizza at least once a week, we hardly need a holiday to remind us to pick up a slice. But since it’s here, why not celebrate by making the largest pizza you can muster the ingredients for?
That’s what these Houstonites did back in the mid-1950s, and although the occasion they were celebrating is lost to history, their feat is forever preserved by these step-by-step photos shot for, but never published in, LIFE Magazine. Though their accomplishment has been overshadowed by more modern triumphs of pizza-making glory—like this 122-inch pie made in 1990—a ten-footer is nothing to scoff at, neither then nor today.
Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter @lizabethronk.
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Write to Eliza Berman at eliza.berman@time.com