Maria Balinska - The Bagel: The Surprising History of a Modest Bread

THE BAGEL

A fascinating and definitive account of the origins and importance in East European Jewish society of this boiled and baked ring of dough which has, surprisingly, become a staple item in the American diet.
Antony Polonsky, Professor of Holocaust Studies, Brandeis University

Maria Balinska combines stories, history and hands-on experience with a style as brisk and toothsome as the crust of a freshly baked bagel and content as dense and flavourful as its skilfully handled dough.
Gillian Riley, author of The Oxford Companion to Italian Food

This charming and highly informative book is a surprisingly delightful read, which strays into what seems a byway of history, but in which even readers without her background will find much that is not only amusing but of genuine historical interest.
Joseph Frank, Professor Emeritus of Slavic and Comparative Literature, Stanford University

THE SURPRISING HISTORY OF A MODEST BREAD

MARIA BALINSKA

A Caravan book. For more information, visit www.caravanbooks.org.

Copyright 2008 Maria Balinska

All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press) without written permission from the publishers.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Balinska, Maria.

The bagel: the surprising history of a modest bread/Maria Balinska.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-300-11229-0 (ci: alk. paper)
1. BagelsHistory. 2. Jews, East European. I. Title.
TX770.B35B35 2008
641.815dc22 2008026763

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

1 Baker shaping rings, photograph in The Bakers & Confectioners Journal, March 1950. From the Bakery, Confectionery and Tobacco Workers International papers, Special Collections Department, University of Maryland Libraries.

2 Uigur woman selling girde. Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images.

3 Tazzine di porcellana, limone su basamento, cocomero e ciambelle by Cristoforo Munari. Musei di Strada Nuova, Palazzo Bianco, Genoa.

4 Ritratto di Francesco Maria de Medici bambino by Giusto Suttermans. Galleria Palatina, Florence (Inv.1912 n.344), Soprintendenza Library.

5 Engraving of bakery from the Kodeks Baltazara Bohema (1505). Special Collections, Jagellonian Library, Krakw (rkp. BJ 16, k. 252v).

6 Madonna della Pappa by Lorenzo Lippi. Basilica di Santa Croce, Florence, Soprintendenza Library.

7 Cartoon of Jan Sobieski, Building 19 promotional leaflet.

8 Engraving of Krakw and Kazimierz, from Schedels Liber Chronicorum (1493). Special Collections, Jagellonian Library, Krakw.

9 Synagogue in kiew, engraving by Jan Matejko reprinted in Klosy, vol. 2, n. 296 (1871).

10 John the Third, King of Poland, the Terror of the Turks, engraving by R. Tompson. Special Collections, National Museum, Warsaw (62689).

11 A Mnster baker discovers a would-be Turkish invader in 1683, painting by Hans Eichler. Courtesy of the Viennese Bakers Guild, Vienna.

12 A Jewish boy pedlar of bagels, engraving by Kajetan Wincenty Kielisiski. Special Collections, Jagellonian Library, Krakw (sygn. 146 I I 8709).

13 Market Day, engraving by K. Krzyanowski. Jagellonian Library, Krakw.

14 Fun at the Inn, nineteenth-century engraving by unknown artist.

15 Selling bakery, East Galicia, 18901910. Beth Hatefutsoth, Photo Archive, Tel Aviv.

16 Detail from the Jewish Craftsmen and Tradesmen page, in The Statute of Kalisz by Artur Szyk, 1927. Reproduced with the cooperation of The Artur Szyk Society, Burlingame, California, www.szyk.org.

17 A delegation of Jews greeting Jozef Pisudski with bread and salt, 1920. From the Archives of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.

18 Bagel pedlar in the snow, 1938. From the Archives of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.

19 A family of bagel pedlars, Warsaw, c.1935-8, by Roman Vishniac. Mara Vishniac Kohn, courtesy of the International Center of Photography.

20 Little Moses and the basket, photograph by Alter Kacyzne, 1927. From the Archives of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.

21 Street vendors, Orchard Street at Hester Street looking south, 1898. Museum of the City of New York, The Byron Collection (93.1.1.18293).

22 Hyam Plumka, 1920s. From the Archives of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.

23 Banner of The Bakers Journal, 1890. From the Bakery, Confectionery and Tobacco Workers International papers in the Special Collections Department, University of Maryland Libraries.

24 Abraham Cahan. Brown Brothers.

25 Bakers and big loaf, New York City, 1909. Library of Congress, George Grantham Bain Collection (LC-USZ62-23414).

26 Front cover of The Bakers and Confectioners Journal, March 1950. From the Bakery, Confectionery and Tobacco Workers International papers, Special Collections Department, University of Maryland Libraries.

27 Advertisement for the Southern Cotton Oil Trading Company, Jewish Bakers Voice, 13 December 1929. New York Public Library, Dorot Jewish Division.

28 Advertisement for Bagels and Yox, 1951. Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations.

29 Stringing bagels, from The Bakers and Confectioners Journal, March 1950. From the Bakery, Confectionery and Tobacco Workers International papers, Special Collections Department, University of Maryland Libraries.

30 Programme for Ben Greenspans testimonial dinner. From the Bakery, Confectionery and Tobacco Workers International papers, Special Collections Department, University of Maryland Libraries.

31 Hot Bagels on the Upper West Side, New York, 1970s. Beth Hatefutsoth, Photo Archive, Tel Aviv.

32 Note by an anonymous member of Local 338, 12 December 1966. From the Bakery, Confectionery and Tobacco Workers International papers, Special Collections Department, University of Maryland Libraries.

33 The Lender brothers in their factory. Courtesy of the Lender family.

34 Cross-promotional advertisement. Courtesy of Willy Evans.

35 The Dance of the Bagels. Courtesy of the Lender Family.

36 Album sleeve of Bagels and Bongos by the Irving Fields Trio. Courtesy www.rebootstereophonic.com.

37 Cover of El Al Looks into the Bagel booklet. Authors collection.

38 Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara on The Ed Sullivan Show, 7 November 1966. Photo by CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images.

39 Murray Lender on the Johnny Carson Show, 1977. Courtesy of the Lender family.

40 Bagelfest at Mattoon, Illinois. Reprinted from Alice Larabee et al, Mattoon: A Pictorial History (St Louis 1988). Reproduced courtesy of the authors.

41 Still from The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz. Courtesy of Ted Kotcheff.

42 Bagel seller in Whitechapel, London, 1938. Getty Images.