He
perhaps adapted the crumpet a bit to American tastes, or perhaps
it was the “Bara Maen,” a Welsh bread cake baked on hot
stones that dates back to the 10th century. No matter, he managed
to create the prototype of the “English muffin” (still
completely unknown, of course, in England), baked on a griddle instead
of in an oven.
His was one of several thousand small bake shops in New York, but
his muffin caught the fancy of hoteliers, in part because it was
a classy alternative to toast, but was just as easy to prepare (pop
in toaster and butter). Thomas delivered his muffins in glass-domed
cases with “S. B. Thomas” stenciled on them, which created
enough brand awareness to allow him to begin selling his toaster
crumpet through grocery stores as well.
Thomas
died in 1919 and the business was inherited by his daughter and
nephews. It was bought by CPC, a food conglomerate that eventually
renamed itself Bestfoods. CPC spread Thomas’ yeasty empire,
colonizing the rest of the United States, and - following an old
British tradition - began subjugating Third World breads into the
Thomas’ commonwealth, swallowing a pita bread company named
Sahara and improbably rechristening it “Thomas’ Sahara
Pita Bread.”
May
the sun never set on the Thomas’ empire, taking up the whitebread
man’s burden.
