Monday, July 31, 2006

Oven Found in Nooks and Crannies

Many think of New York City as a bagel town; Samuel Bath Thomas might disagree. This Thomas is the Thomas of English muffin fame, and his premier bakery where he started the “crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside” magic was once on the corner of West 20th Street and Ninth Avenue. Last Thursday, in a nook of the Metro section of the New York Times, was news of this “Muffin House,” as the coop building at 337 West 20th Street calls it.

While a tenant was removing his radiator, he pulled up a few floorboards to expose what looked like a black hole of bricks. Where there should have been a basement, the tenant recognized an oven.

With further investigation, headed by Joan H. Geismar, an urban archaeologist, it was determined that this was, indeed, the original muffin oven. The structure of the oven reveals that the oven was built on site, meaning that the bricklayer crafted the piece specific to its spot. Thus, if the oven is moved, all one will be left with are bricks. Both the tenants and an engineering representative from the bakery who currently oversees Thomas’ wanted to have it moved to a company sanctioned spot; however, the nature of the oven will keep it in its place: beneath one apartment and the back courtyard.

So with the Muffin House reclaiming the Muffin Oven, the only question that remains is: will the Muffin Man, or at least a disciple, return to start preheating? Until a response is heard, keep toasting your store bought Thomas’ and spreading jam in all the ‘nooks and crannies.’

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