Pretzelvania

     Pennsylvania has many firsts to its credit.  But one of the tastiest is that of being the place where the first commercial pretzel bakery was founded.  Pretzels have a long history, dating back to Europe where monks twisted dough in the form of arms crossed in prayer.  After baking they were given to children as a reward for memorizing Bible verses.



     It was in Lititz that Julius Sturgis, quite by chance, began baking pretzels and selling them from his home on Main Street.  Legend has it that a hobo alighted from a train behind the Sturgis family's bread baking operation and followed his nose up to the bakery seeking employment and a meal.  And while Julius wasn't able to provide the man with a job, he did invite him to sit down with the family at the dinner table.  In exchange for his hospitality the hobo gave Sturgis a pretzel recipe.  And after 11 years baking bread Sturgis began to turn out soft pretzels in 1861.

     The family business prospered and when one relative moved from Lititz to Reading the pretzel baking continued there as Tom Sturgis sold the hard pretzels he baked.  

     The original house built in 1784 still stands on Main Street in Lititz and is on the National Register of Historic Places.  You can't miss it!  There's a huge pretzel out front.