About National Pretzel Day
Fans of "The Office" may know Pretzel Day as Stanley Hudson's favorite day. It is a celebration of the beloved entwined bakery snack, originally proclaimed nationally in 1983.
It was later promoted by Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell in 2003 as Philadelphians eat almost 12 times more pretzels than the average American. Today, Pennsylvania still produces 80 percent of pretzels in the U.S., according to The Philadelphia Tribune.
A Pennsylvania baker is credited for accidentally inventing the hard pretzel more than 160 years ago when a batch of soft pretzels was overcooked. The crunchy snack that resulted became an integral part of the state's culture and economy, leading to the Pennsylvania governor's 2003 proclamation that recognized April 26th as National Pretzel Day.
A Pretzel is a type of baked bread product made from dough most commonly shaped into a twisted knot. Pretzels originated in Europe, possibly among monks in the Early Middle Ages. The name means 'small reward'.
The hard pretzel is thought to have originated in the US in 1850 at Lititz, PA, with baker Julius Sturgis.
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