February 9 is National Bagel Day, one of the "hole-" iest days of the year for Thomas' Bagels, the largest producer of pre-packaged grocery store bagels in the U.S. To celebrate, Thomas' held a sweepstakes from February 2-8 on the Thomas' Facebook page. On February 9, Thomas' will announce the winners randomly chosen to receive one of 10,000 coupons for free packages of bagels and one grand prize winner to receive a $5,000 gift card. Residents in Chicago can celebrate National Bagel Day with a free warm and toasty Thomas' bagel and free Thomas' gear at a custom bagel shop at Union Station.
"Bagels have been a breakfast staple in American households for many years, so this has become one of our favorite days to celebrate," said Ted Swain, senior brand manager. "Having sold more than 160 million Thomas' bagels in 2014, we know our consumers love a warm, chewy bagel topped with their favorite topping, so we find it fitting to 'spread the love' to our Facebook fans and Chicago residents."
With a history dating back to 1610, bagels have been a part of breakfast culture for numerous years. Here is some fun bagel trivia from Thomas', available in infographic form:
The origins of the bagel have been long debated, but most historians agree that the chewy circular bread debuted in 1610 in Krakow, Poland.
Why is there a hole in the middle of bagels? In the past, vendors threaded the hole-shaped bread onto dowels and hawked them on street corners.
In Germany, variations of the word bagel are: beigel, meaning ring, and bugel, meaning bracelet.
Bagels are the only bread that are boiled before they are baked.
In the early 1900s, bagel makers worked in teams of four. Two people would make the dough and shape the bagels, one boiled the bagels and the fourth baked them.
Thomas' top five most popular bagels are the traditional size versions of Plain, Everything, Cinnamon Raisin and Blueberry and the Mini Bagel in Plain.
Thomas' is the largest producer of grocery store bagels in the US. In 2014, Thomas' sold more than 160 million bagels.
To make Thomas' popular Limited-Edition Pumpkin Bagels, it takes 133,500 pounds of pumpkin puree.
It would take 2,231 bagels to go once around Grand Central Station Main Concourse's inside perimeter, 790 feet!
It would take 37,271 bagels to cover the length of Boston's historic Freedom Trail, 2.5 miles long!
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