Today's post looks at an old time saying/practice and it's relevance in current society. This is a special edition post since in addition to the normal reporting and opining, an investigation was conducted, with data to follow.
So looking at the traditional Baker's Dozen, my education has taught me that this concept arose back in a time before supermarkets and 7-11's. (Yes, as usual in my research, I spare myself the time and grant you the opportunity to Wiki any necessary relevant facts- and plus stories, real or close, are way more interesting.) A time when carriages were drawn by horse, butter was churned by hand, and evening supper was lit by candlelight. A setting perhaps not far removed from strict Mennonite societies of a classic Harrison Ford film.
Back in those days, food was procured directly from the specialist preparing it, so the local butcher, milkman, or in this case, bakers. It is hard to imagine the setting completely, since without common-day preservatives, bread would have experienced a much shorter shelf life (another term from the same era) before becoming inedible, except for swine. Nonetheless, bakers would roll out fresh selections on a daily basis, much like Subway does today. However, unlike Subway, a typical order for a dozen of anything would normally include a gracious extra one. (I haven't taken a ruler to a Subway footlong but I'm guessing that you always only get 12 inches.) I say gracious since I'm not exactly sure what the true intent was. My understanding has been that it was to compensate for a potential "bad apple" in the bunch, thereby serving as a modern day quality control extra. Plus this measure is easily compensated for in the world of baking (unlike milk), since volume of bread would not have been as rigidly controlled (and therefore valued) as compared to the volume of milk. Bread bakes out to a size according to the lump of pre-bake (whatever it's called) chosen by the baker whereas milk volume doesn't fluctuate from the cow to your mouth. Enough dissection on that point.
But the other, and likely better, explanation for the extra unit in a dozen was as an act of good business. To foster a strong and valuable relationship with the customer, who, back in those days, probably was a next door neighbor. You can easily amortize the cost of a single doughnut or roll, especially when you are baking dozens. Even over the cost of a one dozen, one extra unit represents only a 8% savings on the cost of a single item. Not much, really, by today's discounts. You can probably find a coupon for 15% off a pizza anywhere if you look. Or just mention you have a AAA card and you should get 10% off something. Doubt you'll even get carded either, since it's only 10%.
So leaping forward to today, and given the generally uncomfortable feeling towards the number 13, especially on Friday the 13th, I figured I'd poll some local Baltimore businesses and find out just how many bakeries honor this classic favor. A (regular) dozen bakeries, in fact. However, despite modest attempts in contacting a dozen bakeries, only a few responses were received and only one local bakery was confirmed to offer a true Baker's Dozen. That one is Cakelove, and they actually offer an excellent graphical depiction of this deal on their website. The remaining responses were all negative, plus I conclude that the non-responders were a "no", as well. In this case, only 1 out of 12 bakeries contacted in the Baltimore area still practice this tradition. And thankfully somebody does or it would appear that perhaps this thoughtful, business-savvy gesture would be completely forgotten on tomorrow's youth. Plus the number 13 wouldn't have anything positive going for it anymore.
In closing, while this data is far from anything statistically relevant, it does suggest that the lean, mean, margin-minimalizing machine driving the world's economy has taken a firm hold on even the mom and pop (and other local) bakers. So then, much like eggs, colored pencils, and (unfortunately) beer, when you order a dozen Smiley cookies, a dozen Donuts, or a dozen cheesy stuffed breadsticks, you can bet you're probably only going to get 12. Unless you get lucky and patron a place like Cakelove, which, apparently, are one out of a dozen.
-->Closing shout out two personal favorites, Hamilton Bakery and Touchet Touchet Bakery. (Hamilton, although not offering Baker's Dozens, does offer price discounts on larger quantities). Check these guys out and if you're nice, maybe they'll throw an extra one in for ya!
