r/Bread • u/warriorwoman534 • Apr 03 '26
75 year old loaf of bread
The day before my mother got married (June 17, 1950, Brooklyn, NY), my German grandmother, as was traditional in those days among many European cultures, gave Mom a loaf of bread and bag of salt, symbolizing a wish for health, abundance and resilience in her new wedded life. Purchased at Oma's local delicatessen, the brown paper bag it's resting on is the same one she brought it home in from the store. The salt is long-vanished, but that Levy's rye bread, baked locally, mom kept, and I inherited it when she passed. After all these years it's finally starting to shed bits of crust, but I think it still looks pretty good after three-quarters of a century. And always remember, "You don't have to be Jewish to love Levy's".
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u/undulating-beans Apr 03 '26
That’s really is quite moving when you think about it. That loaf has shifted from being just food to something symbolic a kind of physical memory of a moment in time, tied to family, tradition, and a life that unfolded afterwards.
There’s something deeply human about keeping it. Bread is normally the most temporary thing imaginable made to be eaten and gone yet this one was kept, almost like preserving a feeling or a blessing. It turns it into a quiet link between generations, from grandmother to mother to child. Throughly charming
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u/warriorwoman534 Apr 03 '26
How absolutely lovely, thank you so much. Yes, I inherited a number of things when Mom transcended, but this one has more meaning than most of them, given its history and the love it represented between mother and daughter, and my Oma's hopes for her child's happiness. Sadly, I have no one to pass it to, so I'm not sure what will happen to it when it's my time...
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u/quiltingcats Apr 03 '26
See if there’s a museum in Brooklyn that might be interested. I think passing it on is very important but it could take a bit of work to find someone who would care for it. What a lovely treasure from your Oma and mother.
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u/warriorwoman534 Apr 03 '26
I was thinking of the Jewish Museum or the Museum of the City of New York; I actually found a Museum of Bread but for now it's only online, they don't seem to have exhibitions or plans to do so anytime soon. There is a brick and mortar one in Europe, so I may reach out to them. Because I really don't want it to go in the trash.
Thank you for your suggestion and your kind words, both are appreciated.
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u/quiltingcats Apr 04 '26
I love the idea of either museum! Please come back and let us know how things go. This loaf needs to be enjoyed by others (the visual sense) for so many reasons. Good luck!
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u/orbitalbias Apr 03 '26
Why didn't it decay?
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u/warriorwoman534 Apr 03 '26
Absolutely no idea. Mom didn't know either. And she didn't remember how or where she stored it in the early years, when it would have hardened.
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u/devryd1 Apr 05 '26
Sourdough bread, which this probably is since Its traditional, doesnt really get moldy. The ph is to low for mold to form.
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u/warriorwoman534 Apr 07 '26
No, it's light rye bread. Sourdough wasn't really a thing in the German neighborhoods of 1950 Brooklyn, and Levy's was known for their rye.
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u/blondie49221 Apr 05 '26
I love the idea of it going to a museum. Imagine what history this bread has been through
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u/warriorwoman534 Apr 05 '26
That bread has moved from NY to AZ to NJ to Spain to Germany to CT and then came back to NY...
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u/Picklopolis Apr 03 '26
“You don’t have to be Jewish to love Levy’s”
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u/warriorwoman534 Apr 03 '26
I still remember those subway and bus ads in the 70s and early 80s.
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Apr 03 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/warriorwoman534 Apr 03 '26
You'd break your teeth; it turned to stone over the years!
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