28 June 1956 “Cream Cheese and a Bagel, what’s that?”

Though Bagel baking was happening in our country since the Jewish immigrants brought them over to New York, to most of America they were not a normal part of their life. This quote shows the seriousness of bagels early on to the Jewish culture.
The American bagel industry established formal roots in New York between 1910 and 1915 with the formation of Bagel Bakers Local #338. This exclusive group of 300 craftsmen with "bagels in their blood" limited its members to sons of its members. At the time, it was probably easier to get into medical school than to get an apprenticeship in one of the 36 union bagel shops in New York City and New Jersey.
And even though prepackaged bagels first became available in grocery stores in the 1950's (With the introduction of frozen bagels in the 1960's) most consumers did not have a reason to eat a bagel.
This quote from a landlord to a new Bagel shop owner in 1966 says it all about average Middle class America and Bagels, One bagel maker  who opened a bagel bakery in a suburb of Washington, D.C., in 1966, remembers his skeptical landlord nervously questioning, "Who's gonna spend seven cents for one of those things?"
In the early 60’s in New York, Bagels were becoming ‘hip’ to the point that a restaurant called the Hip Bagel was opened by a local prominent restaurateur.
The Hip Bagel was started in the early 60s by a man who became a very prominent New York restaurateur, Shelly Fireman. Mr. Fireman later went on to open Café Fiorello at Lincoln Center, as well as Trattoria Dell’Arte across from Carnegie Hall as well as the Brooklyn Diner and Redeye Grill, Shelly’s New York and Bond 45. Today his restaurants employ more than a thousand people.
This is a sketch from a Hip Bagel Patron by an artist called Schulenberg. He kept sketch diaries for many years and there is an interesting bit of him and the Hip Bagel HERE.
So, what did all we non-Jewish and or non-New York or New Jersy American’s do with all the Philadelphia cream cheese we were buying? Well, here you can see the beginnings of the ‘ad as an article’ in my 54 issue of Better Homes and Gardens. This appears as an article and the recipes are even fold outs that you can cut and fit into your recipe box. Though this is obvious product placement there is still an innocence about this form of advertising compared to what we have today. For, though the recipes clearly say to use Philly brand, you could certainly use whichever you like.
So, get your own favorite brand of Cream cheese and add some vintage spice to your party or your life in general. (click to enlarge images)
And, as always, Happy Homemaking!