There once was a place in New York City. It served “unusual bread and rolls.” And it was run by gnomes.
Never mind how “unusual” bread products could really, honestly be. You just never mind that.
According to to Ephemeral New York, this ad was part of a 1973 New York Mets program.
But the story doesn’t stop there. Apparently there was ANOTHER Gnome Bakers location documented 40 years earlier.
According to New York Times photographer, Fred R Conrad, 316 East 59th Street was home to Gnome Bakers. The bakery owners designed the front of the building to look like the sort of place where tiny gnomes would be mixing up baked goods. Although the picture doesn’t do it justice, a giant bearded gnome once rested against the chimney munching on a piece of bread.
Today 316 East 59th Street is home to a chiropractor’s office. Lame.
Curbed corroborated the story and revealed that the giant munching gnome and the Gnome Bakers simply disappeared from the premises after they went bankrupt in the early 1930s.
And they found an awesome photo of the giant gnome perched atop the bakery building!
But all this research has led me to more questions than answers.
Who WERE the gnome bakers?
Where did they go in the early 30s?
What ever became of the giant munching gnome?
And what exactly did make gnome bread SO unusual?
I would have loved to be alive in the 30s, if for nothing else, to visit this amazing-looking bakery. So Gnome Bakers, if you’re out there reading this…come back! I’m sure New York would welcome you with open arms and a fresh bag of flour.
Gnome bread forever.
xoxo,
Ramon LeBeef the Gnome
