![]() Some might remember our other past locations in River Oaks on West Gray, which closed when that part of the historic River Oaks Shopping Center was torn down, and in Sugarland, which closed with the long drawn out construction on the 59 freeway.Īround the year 2000, Bobby, Sigmund’s eldest and 5th generation baker, took over the bakery and in 2005, his wife, Janice, joined him. In 1963, they took another big step and hired their first employee and bought a mixer – finally!īobby has fond memories of spending time in the bakery as a boy. It took time, but Three Brothers Bakery hung in there and eventually became a Houston institution, making eastern European-style breads and pastries, cookies, cupcakes, wedding cakes, birthday cakes, pies and specialty themed cakes.įor thirteen years since opening on Holman Street, the three Jucker brothers had run the bakery among themselves. Today, Braeswood is a major street, but in 1960, the bakery was at the end of the road and rumored to have cows living nearby. The great parking made them successful enough to move again to South Braeswood in May, 1960, since the Jewish community seemed to be moving to the Braeswood/Meyerland area. They survived on Holman with one parking place for five years and in May 1955, they moved the bakery to Almeda Street at Southmore – right next to Leff Brothers. Our famous gingerbread recipe from the Old Country was modified in America in 1960, and we still use the same recipe today. The three brothers were the first to bring the bagel to Houston. Many of Three Brothers Bakery baked goods still use the original Eastern European recipes, including rye bread, challah, danish, cheese pockets, Kaiser rolls, biales, traditional bagels, and onion boards, to name a few. In Poland, no one ate very sweet foods, so the brothers learned to make American cakes and pastries. He also still meets with Sigmund and their friend Joe on some Mondays at our Washington Ave shop. Since reopening after Hurricane Ike, Clyde has been our Official First Customer at all our openings. The very first and still special customer was Clyde Cannon who stopped in on his way to school at San Jacinto High. For a very long time, the Jucker brothers kept with their European roots and made everything by hand. They bought the bakery from the Meschkat family. Four years to the day, on May 8th, 1949, Sigmund, his twin brother, Sol, and younger brother Max opened Three Brothers Bakery on Holman Street at La Branch in Houston, Texas, across from Beth Israel Synagogue. Sigmund, Sol, Max, and their older sister all survived. Hence they struggled with their one parking place. That first day taught them a very valuable lesson: in Houston, if you don’t have good parking, you will struggle. ![]() On opening day, the coffee cake that we sell to this day was $0.55. Sigmund recalls their first day was not as successful as they had hoped. Since they still didn’t have mixers, everything was handmade, just as it was in Europe. They bought an existing bakery from the Meschkat family. On May 8, 1949, Sigmund, his twin brother, Sol, and younger brother Max, opened Three Brothers Bakery on Holman Street in Houston, Texas. He was fortunate enough to have survived with his two brothers and their older sister. Sigmund was the first to take a breath of freedom outside the gate. Sigmund found wire cutters and actually cut the wires on the gate, giving him and the other prisoners freedom. The SS fled in such a hurry and luckily had not even turned on the electrified fences. On this day, Liberation Day, he arose to find no SS officers watching or even in the camp. On May 8, 1945, Sigmund arose early, so he could awaken everyone in the camp, which was one of his jobs. The European Era of our family bakery ended when Sigmund and Sol were 19 years old and the family was sent to concentration camps in 1941. Two of Morris’ children, Sigmund and Sol, went to work at the bakery at only ten years old due to a bakers’ strike in 1932. The dough was placed in a trough and everything was mixed by hand. Since there were no mixers at the time, everything was truly handmade. We relate our story to you as told to us by Sigmund Jucker, one of the original three brothers. We believe the bakery opened around 1825 and was last known as Morris Jucker’s Bakery. The bakery’s story began in Chrzanow, Poland, in a building in which Napoleon had spent the night.
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