History of the Bagel |
1683 -- According to legend the first bagels rolled into the world in 1683 when a Viennese
baker wanted to pay tribute to Jan Sobieski, the King of Poland. King Jan
had just saved the people of Austria from an onslaught of Turkish invaders. The
King was a great horseman, and the baker decided to shape the yeast dough into
an uneven circle resembling a stirrup (or 'beugal'). (Other German variations
of the word are: 'beigel', meaning 'ring', and 'bugel', meaning bracelet.) |
1872 -- Cream cheese is invented. In 1880, Philadelphia Cream Cheese was started, and
in 1920, Breakstone Cream Cheese |
1880's -- Thousands of Eastern European Jews immigrated to the United States. They brought
with them a desire for bagels. Soon bagels became closely associated with New
York and Chicago, both cities with large Jewish populations. |
1907 -- A union just for bagel bakers is formed, the International Bakers Union, joining
together 300 bakers. Only sons of union members could be apprenticed to learn
the secrets of bagel baking in order to safeguard the culinary art. |
1960's -- Bagel production skyrocketed as machines capable of producing 200 to 400 bagels
per hour were popularized. |
1987 -- Bagels made their way into mainstream America, sold around the country in grocery
stores and listed as standard items on fast food menus. |
1988 -- Americans were eating an average of one bagel per month. |
1993 -- America's consumption of bagels doubled to an average of one bagel every two
weeks |
1996 - Durango Bagel opens, bringing high quality bagels to the Rock Hill, SC area! |
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