HURLEYVILLE – Bagels have been around, seemingly for centuries, but a Hurleyville man, the late Louis Wichinsky, is credited by many as being the founder of the bagel-making machine.
Today (Monday) being National Bagel Day, the first bagel machine is on display at the Sullivan County Museum in Hurleyville.
Suzanne Cecil, president of the Sullivan County Historical Society, said Wichinsky started to design his machine in the 1940s.
“He started working on it during World War II. He was in England. He claims it took him two wars and 20 years to create the niche of the bagel machine,” she said. “What I found out he had contracts with people in Toronto, the Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City had one of these machines. They have been in the Plaza Hotel in New York City.”
The machine is on display at the Sullivan County Museum in Hurleyville.
National Bagel Day should not be confused with the annual summer festival in Monticello, dubbed the Bagel Capital.
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