Looking Back
From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History accessible at www.djnfoundation.org
Ode to the Bagel R ecently, our new Associate Editor, Rachel Sweet, and I had a chat in the JN lunchroom. She was toasting a bagel and mentioned that Bagel Day was upcoming. I said I thought National Bagel Day was Jan. 15. Rachel was referring to National Bagel and Lox Day on Feb. 9. We were both correct, but the distinction didn’t really matter much to Rachel who proclaimed that for her, “Every day is Bagel Day!” In short, as it is for many Americans, eating a bagel is Mike Smith her daily ritual. This made Alene and Graham Landau me wonder about bagel Archivist Chair history in Metro Detroit. Well, “bagel” appears on nearly 8,000 pages in the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History. There are hundreds of stories and thousands of advertisements for bakeries, delis, restaurants and events that feature the round delicacy. The first mentions of “bagels” are in the Jewish Chronicle in the 1920s. However, these were not about food. They are small items about the social activities of Mr. and Mrs. Bagel (Myer and Pauline). Bagels were first referenced as a food in the 1940s; initially, the bagel and its close friend, lox. During World War II, bagel-and-lox breakfasts were served-up on most Sundays for American military personnel by the United States Service Organizations (USO), women’s clubs and many other local organizations. Danny Raskin first mentioned bagels in his Dec. 7. 1945, “Listening Post” column. He discussed Sam Blender from New York, who was known as “the bagel man of the East Side.” One could also find “Bob the Bagel Boy” in the personal ads. He provided a critical service: he could be hired to deliver hot bagels to your home on Sundays (Sept. 27, 1946, Chronicle).
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The first advertisements for bagels for sale appear to be those for the New York Bagel Company in the 1940s. Established by Morris Goldsmith and two East European immigrant partners in 1921, New York Bagel is Detroit’s oldest dedicated bagel retailer. The third and fourth generation of Goldsmiths now operate locations in Ferndale and West Bloomfield. By the way, bagels are generally thought to have originated in Poland. By the 1940s, bagels and lox had become a standard Sunday breakfast for many in the Jewish community. In the Sept. 6, 1949, Jewish Chronicle, “Bagel and Lox Jews” was a story in which an unnamed rabbi from Glencoe, Illinois, described himself as a bagel and lox Jew because that was what he liked on Sunday mornings. An ad in the Oct. 18, 1946, JN for Apollo Records featured its new recording of Eddie “Rochester” Anderson singing the Jewish Breakfast Song, “Bagels and Lox (with cheese in the middle).” Beginning in 1950s, bagels had become a staple food, mentioned hundreds of times every year. In the 1960s, Philadelphia Cream Cheese became a close partner of bagels. There are ads for another bagel innovation, Lender’s frozen bagels, in the 1970s. So, who has the best bagels? Keri Cohen’s dad thought the best bagels were in Reno because of its high elevation. Rachel believes that the best bagel is the last one she ate. Bagels are like wine — everyone has a favorite. For your own taste testing, see the link below for a recent JN list of a few great Detroit bagel places. Happy Noshing! thejewishnews.com/2022/02/09/feb-9-is-nationalbagel-and-lox-day-heres-where-you-can-get-yourfix-in-metro-detroit.
