A STORY ABOUT BAGELS
The bagel originated in Eastern Europe during the early 17th century. It was associated with Jewish communities. The bagel became popular due to its unique boiling and baking process.
The bagel was brought to the United States by Jewish immigrants in the late 19th century. It became popular accross America as a breakfast item. The circular shape of the bagel is said to represent continuity.
In the early 1950's we moved to a new home in the far corner of Northwest Detroit. I guess there was not any place to buy bagels yet in this new part of the city. My father was the manager of a retail store at the time. He always worked late on Saturday's. Sometimes when he came home about 9:00 P.M. we would get in the car and drive to an older part of the city to a bagel factory. I think it might have been on Linwood or Dexter Avenue. It seemed like quite an adventure for a little boy sitting in the back seat of the family car driving late at night to a mysterious place to buy bagels for Sunday breakfast.
A few years later as the Northwest part of the city developed a bagel factory called the New York Bagel Factory opened at the Seven Mile and Schaefer shopping area. This was only about two miles from home. This was also a busy place on Saturday night. In those days the local papers put out an addition of the Sunday papers on Saturday night. There were three Detroit papers at that time. The Detroit News, The Detroit Free Press. and a paper called The Detroit Times. The Times later merged with the News. All three of these papers were stacked in front of the bagel factory on Saturday night. People lined up to buy the papers and bagels until about 11: 00 P.M. on Saturdays.
In the mid 1950's I attended an afternoon activity after school at building located in the Seven and Schaefer area. Before class which was about 4:00 P.M. we would often run over to the bagel factory to buy a hot bagel. In the mid-fifties a bagel was five, maybe six cents.
In the 1960's bagels started to expand the options you could have. You could now get raisin or blueberry, cinnamon, maybe onion or sesame and everything bagels among others.
The years went by and people were moving to new area's such as Oak Park, Southfield, West Bloomfield among others. More bagel factories opened. Oak Park, Twelve Mile and Telegraph, Orchard Lake Road, Commerce Road and many others in all directions as the suburbs grew in all directions.
It has been a long time since people had to travel to Linwood or Dexter Avenue to buy a bagel. People like bagels with cream cheese. tomatoes,maybe lox and onions or just about anything else. Bagels remain very popular!
Sometime around 1949 a little boy about four years old is sitting in the back of his family's 1946 Chevy. His mother and father are in the front seat. They are taking a Sunday drive. Headed out Jefferson Avenue towards Belle Isle for a ride around the park. Driving along Jefferson nearing Belle Isle there is a gigantic cast iron old fashion stove on display on the side of the road. { It was probably some type of advertising piece for a stove manufacturing company in Detroit.} The boy asked his parent's what is that very big stove used for? The parent's respond it is used to bake bagels for everybody in Detroit on Saturday's so that they can have bagels on Sunday. The mother and father think this is very funny. The boy wants to believe this is true. Deep inside he knows this is a joke.
The young boy says to himself with jokes like that I wonder why my parent's are not on The Milton Berle show?
Enjoy your bagels!
WRITTEN BY
RONNY TURETT
born in the 40's/raised in the 50's
THANKS FOR READING MY ESSAYS. POSTING NEW ESSAYS EVERY WEEK.
PLEASE TELL OTHERS ABOUT MY BLOG.
November 2026
Comments