On this day, 14 December 1951, bagel bakers in New York City went on strike, shutting 32 out of 34 of the city’s bagel bakeries. It left shelves bare and almost entirely cut off the weekly supply of 1.2 million bagels to the city, causing what the New York Times described as a “bagel famine”.
The bakers came to agreement with the employers in January, and bagel drivers remained out until seven weeks after the start of the dispute, when they reached a deal to compensate them for wages lost during the strike.
Pictured: a bagel baker in Queens, 1963 https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1292490357602778/?type=3