Thomas' is a brand of

English muffins An English muffin is a small, round and flat yeast-leavened (sometimes sourdough) bread which is commonly round and tall. It is generally sliced horizontally and served toasted.David, Elizabeth (1977). ''English Bread and Yeast Cookery''. Lond ...

and

bagel A bagel ( yi, בײגל, translit=beygl; pl, bajgiel; also spelled beigel) is a bread roll originating in the History of Jews in Poland, Jewish communities of Poland. It is traditionally shaped by hand into a roughly hand-sized ring from yeaste ...

s in North America, established in 1880. It is owned by

Bimbo Bakeries USA Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc. () is the American corporate arm of the Mexican multinational bakery product manufacturing company Grupo Bimbo. It is the largest bakery company in the United States. The company, headquartered in Horsham, Pennsylvania ...

, one of the largest baking companies in the United States, which also owns

Entenmann's Entenmann's is an American company that manufactures baked goods and delivers them throughout the United States to supermarkets and other retailers for sale to the public. The company offers dessert cakes, donuts, cookies, cup cakes, loaf cakes, ...

, Boboli,

Sara Lee Sara may refer to: Arts, media and entertainment Film and television * ''Sara'' (1992 film), 1992 Iranian film by Dariush Merhjui * ''Sara'' (1997 film), 1997 Polish film starring Bogusław Linda * ''Sara'' (2010 film), 2010 Sri Lankan Sinhal ...

, Stroehmann, and Arnold bread companies. Advertisements for the muffins place emphasis on their "nooks and crannies". The company also produces toasting or swirl breads,

pita Pita ( or ) or pitta (British English), is a family of yeast-leavened round flatbreads baked from wheat flour, common in the Mediterranean, Middle East, and neighboring areas. It includes the widely known version with an interior pocket, als ...

s, wraps, and bagels.

History

The company was founded by Samuel Bath Thomas (1855–1919). In 1874, he immigrated from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

and after other menial jobs began working in a bakery. By 1880, he had purchased his own bakery at 163 Ninth Avenue in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

, where he featured his namesake muffins that were baked on a griddle, not an oven. The business expanded to 337 West 20th Street (a plaque designates the building as "The Muffin House"). Thomas died in 1919, and the company, S. B. Thomas, was inherited by his daughter and nephews, and was

incorporated Incorporated may refer to: * Incorporated community * ''Incorporated'' (Grip Inc. album), 2004, by Grip Inc. * ''Incorporated'' (Legion of Doom album), 2006 * ''Incorporated'' (TV series), a science fiction thriller television series set in 2075 ...

. Later, it was owned by

George Weston Bakeries George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Pres ...

. Some television commercials for the muffins have highlighted the immigrant story of Thomas, joking about how disappointed his fans in England supposedly were when he decided to take his muffins to America. (Whether the muffins were invented after Thomas had moved to the U.S. is unclear, but the comments in the commercials are not intended to be accurate and are used for a humorous purpose.) In 2010, the company won a

trade secret Trade secrets are a type of intellectual property that includes formulas, practices, processes, designs, instruments, patterns, or compilations of information that have inherent economic value because they are not generally known or readily a ...

suit when an executive uploaded the company's recipes and retired to work for Hostess. Annual sales in 2010 for Thomas' English Muffins was estimated to be US$500 million.

Notes

External links

* Bagel companies Brand name breads Grupo Bimbo brands Companies established in 1880 {{food-product-stub

History

See also

Notes

External links