The History of Pretzels
scroll down to the bottom to read chronologically
last updated: Dec 24 2003

2003 - Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell declares April 26th "National Pretzel Day" to acknowledge the importance of the pretzel to the state's history and economy. Congress declared it in 1983, but stopped the "commemorative day" practice in 1998. Pennsylvania produces 80% of the nation's pretzels.

2003 - Some French folk, tired of hearing about Americans' war-related disdain for all things Francais, launch a campaign to send pretzels to US President Bush, recalling that he choked on a pretzel and passed out in Jan 2002. BretzelforBush.com is in French.

1993 - The Pretzel Museum opens in Philadelphia, where they prefer their pretzels soft. Now closed, one could watch champion twister Helen Hoff produce 57 pretzels/minute.

1960 - By 1960, total pretzel sales reached $92 million. In the mid-60's, pretzels were the fourth most popular snack in the US and the number one snack with beer. Pretzel technology moved from hand-twisting to machine-twisting to die-cut production.

1948 - At the bicentennial of the city, there were at least 15 in the Reading/Berks area. The key to the City of Reading even has a pretzel on it.

1946 - Marriot D. “Tom” Sturgis, grandson to Julius, founded the Tom Sturgis Pretzel Company. The first bakery was located on Grape Street in Reading, where the current Reading Area Community College is located. “It was a very small place,” Tom says, “so we then moved to Saul’s Court, between Ninth and Tenth Streets on the North side of Reading.” At this location until 1953, the bakery moved once again to 700 Lancaster Avenue and remained there until 1970. Today, the 75,000-square-foot warehouse and factory is located at 2267 Lancaster Pike in Reading; the giant pretzel in the front of the building serving as a landmark for those who pass by. "Tom" died in 2000 at the age 89.

1933 - The modern age of pretzel making began when the Reading Pretzel Machinery Company first introduced the automatic pretzel twisting machine. Prior to that, most commercial pretzels were actually shaped by a cracker-cutting machine, then placed on baking pans and put into the baking ovens by hand.

1909 - Synder's Hanover Pretzel Company founded in Hanover, PA.

Early Philadelphia soft pretzel vendor having his shoes shined, circa 1900.

1884 - Bachman pretzel bakery founded in Reading, PA

1861 - Sturgis bakery in Lititz, PA, becomes the first commercial pretzel bakery in the US, after a hobo gives the recipe to Sturgis in 1850. Long wooden paddles, also known as “peels,” were used by the baker and his helper to place the pretzels on a stationary stone or brick hearth in the oven. A wider “peel” was then used to remove the pretzels from the oven.

1700 - The soft pretzel was very much part of the southern German and Swiss German tradition, which became the thrifty Pennsylvania Dutch culture. Legend has it that the hard pretzel came into existence by accident in the late 17th century in Pennsylvania. A baker's helper fell asleep tending pretzels baking on the hearth. When he woke, the flames had died. He believed the pretzels hadn't baked long enough and started the fire again. The master baker arrived and was furious that the entire batch was ruined. However, he tasted one while throwing them out and realized he was actually on to something. Not only were they tasty, but having the moisture baked out meant their freshness was preserved and they would last longer to sell. Its popularity spread and, in time, many handmade pretzel bakeries dotted the Pennsylvania Dutch landscape.

1652 - The first recorded New World reference to pretzels. Jochem Wessels and his wife, Gertrude were arrested in Beverwyck, N.Y., near Albany, for selling pretzels to the Indians, who loved them so much that they would pay any price for them. The court case revolved around the fact that the bakers used good flour for the pretzels while the remnants of the ground meal were used to make bread for the citizenry. "The heathen were eating flour while the Christians were eating bran."

1620 - It is rumored that pretzels come over on the Mayflower, but that is unproven.

1610 - The bagel ("beygl" is Yiddish) is first mentioned, in the Cracow communal rules describing gifts that may be given midwives and women in labor. No one knows the real origin of the bagel... but it may be a variation of the soft pretzel.

1600's - Pretzels were a convenient way to hand food to the poor, and became a typical alms for the hungry. Those who gave the pretzels away were considered particularly blessed. Pretzels were packed into coffins as a burial blessing. A 1614 woodcut, copied from a cathedral window in Switzerland, depicts the “marriage knot” as a pretzel; the couple wished upon and broke a pretzel like a wishbone, then ate it to signify their oneness. The pretzel is the origin of the phrase "tying the knot."

1550 - A page in the prayer book used by Catherine of Cleves depicts St. Bartholomew surrounded by pretzels which were thought to bring good luck, prosperity and spiritual wholeness. She might have been onto something... several of Henry VIII's other wives were beheaded. German kids still wear pretzels around their neck for good luck on New Year's and pretzels top some Christmas trees in Austria.

1510 - Vienna was being attacked by the Turks. One night, the persistent Turks tried to tunnel under the walls of Vienna. Some pretzel bakers were awake and working, and heard the digging and scraping of the Turks. They alerted the Viennese people who quickly banded together, charged the Turks in the tunnels and won the battle to save their city. The king, as a gesture of his gratitude, bestowed on the Viennese pretzels bakers a special coat of arms. The shield was decorated with a charging lion and a pretzel, which later became the baker's emblem still in use today.

610 AD - Somewhere straddling the border of northern Italy or southern France, pretzels were invented by an ambitious monk baking unleavened bread for the Christian Lent. Possibly out of boredom, he made some little shapes with leftover bread dough. Because Christians in those days prayed with their hands crossed over their chests, he tried shaping the dough to mimic that action. They were baked to a soft bread consistency and given as a treat to children that memorized their prayers. The monk named his new treat 'pretiola' - a Latin word meaning 'little reward'.

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© 2000-2005 Tracy Brant