Pretzel Belt

The Pretzel Belt, or Pennsylvania Snack Belt, is a concentration of pretzel and snack food makers in the central southeastern region of Pennsylvania, roughly coterminous with Pennsylvania Dutch Country.[1][2][3] The first commercial pretzel manufacturer in the United States, the Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery, was founded in the region in the borough of Lititz in 1861, and remains extant there today. By the beginning of the 20th century the pretzel had become a cultural institution in the region.[4] Manufacturers also include several pretzel and chip bakeries in Hanover, Pennsylvania, which holds the nickname "the snack capital of the world", as well as other examples like Hershey, Pennsylvania, home of the Hershey Chocolate Company.[5][6]

Pretzel Belt
Cultural region of the United States
The area roughly considered to constitute the Pretzel Belt, identified with Pennsylvania Dutch Country.
Country United States
States Pennsylvania

The term "Pretzel Belt" has also been used in a similar context to describe an area of the mid-Atlantic where pretzel consumption is higher than most American states.[7][8]

References
  1. "Pretzel Past and Present". Chicago Metro News. Chicago. April 12, 1980. p. 15. Lititz today is a town of 6,000 in the Pretzel Belt or 'Distilfink' [sic] section of the Quaker state.
  2. Anthony, Ted (June 2008). "The Pennsylvania Snack Belt". Gourmet. Condé Nast.
  3. Hottle, Heather (January 24, 2014). "Why do we love snack food?". Penn State News. The Pennsylvania State University. Companies from around the commonwealth — referred to as the snack food belt — supply many of the Sunday afternoon munchies enjoyed while calling plays from the couch.
  4. "In Hands of Trust; Sorrow in Pretzel Belt Over Consolidation of Bakeries". Boston Herald. Boston. September 24, 1916. p. 31. In the pretzel belt of Pennsylvania that viand of the gods is not, as in the outlands, merely an associate of the beer glass, but in the place of its birth nourishes the baby, cheers by the pocketful beaux at the theatre and movies, accompanies every fan to the ball game and snoops down upon such gatherings as are witnessed at the Allentown fair by the trainload.
  5. Conn, David (August 14, 1994). "Pretzel giants vie for snacking dough". The Baltimore Sun. Tiny Hanover itself and the surrounding Pennsylvania Dutch towns are home to so many old-time 'pretzel benders' that the area is America's undisputed, if unofficial, pretzel belt.
  6. Nosowitz, Dan (October 24, 2017). "Investigating Pennsylvania's Very Particular Penchant for Potato Chips". Atlas Obscura. The Pennsylvania Dutch territory, which spans the entire potato chip and pretzel-making belt, is famously insular; this is an area that makes stuff for the people who live there.
  7. Holmes, Meghan (January 19, 2016). "A New Orleans Twist on Pretzels". New Orleans & Me. The Pennsylvania Dutch, also known as the Amish, brought soft Bavarian pretzels to Pennsylvania in the 19th century – continuing a baking tradition established in Germany centuries earlier. The pretzel belt developed from there – encompassing the Mid-Atlantic States where most pretzel aficionados reside.
  8. Uebelherr, Jan (April 24, 2003). "Twisted". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Milwaukee, Wi. pp. 1E, 4E. The mid-Atlantic states are known as America's 'pretzel belt.' The per-capita annual consumption is four pounds—twice the national average.
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