Mattoon, IL, Is Home To BagelFest And The World’s Largest Bagel Factory

National Bagelfest Day is observed annually on July 26th.

Polish-Jewish immigrants introduced the bagel to the United States. They grew thriving businesses in New York City and throughout the surrounding boroughs.

Until the 1960s, bakeries made bagels by hand. Then Daniel Thompson invented the bagel maker and along came a heated debate of man versus the machine. Which was better, the handcrafted beigel or the manufactured bagel?

The bagel became more common throughout North America during the last quarter of the 20th century. Credit for the bagels’ spread across the country goes in part to the efforts of bagel baker Harry Lender, his son, Murray Lender, and Florence Sender. Their pioneering efforts led to automated production and distribution of frozen bagels in the 1960s. Murray also invented pre-slicing the bagel.

Murray Lender, the owner of Lenders Bagels, founded National Bagelfest Day.  In 1986, Murray started the festival in Mattoon, Illinois, home of the world’s largest bagel factory.

BagelFest is a 5-day celebration that takes place in Mattoon, Illinois. When the Bagel Factory first came to the town of Mattoon, Illinois, Lender hosted a free bagel breakfast for all the citizen of the city. This breakfast eventually evolved into a multiple-day festival that celebrates the community every year.

Every year the festival has a Miss BagelFest Contest, a Bagel Baby Contest, a parade and live music. The 2015 BagelFest took place from July 14 to July 18 and marked the 30^th year anniversary of the festival.

1. Bagel history dates back to 1783, according to popular belief. They were created to honor King John III Sobieski of Poland, after he protected Austria’s people from an attack by Turkish invaders.  Rumor has it a local Austrian baker created the bagel in the shape of a stirrup to honor the renowned horseman, and named it a “beugel” (the Austrian word for stirrup).
2. Bagels are the only bread that are boiled before baked.
3. That little hole in the center isn’t just for looks. Rumor has it the age old “role with the hole” design is rather efficient! The bagel hole comes in handy to thread multiple bagels onto a dowel, making transport easily, especially for street vendors selling the doughy delights.
4. Believe it or not, despite the myriad bagel flavors available from blueberry to the “everything” bagel, the most popular choice is plain, followed closely by sesame.
5. Prepackaged bagels first became available in grocery stores in the 1950’s.  Frozen bagels were introduced in 1960.
6. North Carolina molecular scientist Robert Bohannon developed Buzz Donuts and Buzzed Bagels- caffeinated donuts and bagels in 2007.  They contain the caffeine equivalent of 2 cups of coffee.
7. Bruegger’s owns the title of World’s Largest Bagel; They baked an 868-pound bagel August 27, 2004 at the Great New York State Fair in Syracuse, N.Y. The previous record was set in 1998 at 714 pounds.
8. Astronaut Greg Chamitoff brought bagels from his aunt’s bakery to space with him in 2008 Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station. What did he take? Eighteen sesame seed bagels.
9. The bagel was actually invented much earlier in Kraków, Poland, as an alternative (some would say, improvement) on the bublik, a traditional Polish-Russian roll that’s also very close to the Turkish simit.
10. The first documentation of the bagel is in a 1610 list of sumptuary laws.

Sources:

National Day Calendar

Foodimentary

Mobile-Cuisine

Peach Valley Cafe

The Nibble

Bagel Bakery Gainesville