Today we celebrate a favorite treat loved by everyone, a treat that is sweet and salty, the chocolate covered pretzel. This day is observed annually on October 7th.
Chocolate covered pretzels are the perfect treat for every holiday, given as a gift or served as a party snack. They are sweet, salty, and crunchy, made with pretzel twist or rods, covered with melted chocolate, and sometimes sprinkled with colorful candy sprinkles depending on the holiday you make them for, like Valentines or for Christmas.
Chocolate covered pretzels are my all-time favorite treat and during the Christmas holiday, I used to make pretzels covered with dark chocolate and some melted caramel candy. Making treats from pretzel and melted chocolate is everyone’s favorite, young and adult, and it is really easy to make.
The first commercial hard pretzels, the kind that makes the combination with chocolate so irresistible, came along in 1861. Julius Sturgis opened a bakery in a house built around 1784 in Lititz, Pennsylvania. He used a recipe given to him by an unnamed friend. How long people had been making hard pretzels before then is unknown.
So, today, if you love chocolate, and love pretzels, this is the day to celebrate the goodness of salty and sweet treat. Head to your local grocery and grab a bag of ready-made Chocolate covered pretzels or make some at home. Share on social media some recipe using #ChocolateCoveredPretzel
1913 Moving assembly line debuts at Ford factory
For the first time, Henry Ford’s entire Highland Park, Michigan automobile factory is run on a continuously moving assembly line when the chassis–the automobile’s frame–is assembled using the revolutionary industrial technique. A motor and rope pulled the chassis past workers and parts on the factory floor, cutting the man-hours required to complete one “Model T” from 12-1/2 hours to six. Within a year, further assembly line improvements reduced the time required to 93 man-minutes. The staggering increase in productivity affected by Ford’s use of the moving assembly line allowed him to drastically reduce the cost of the Model T, thereby accomplishing his dream of making the car affordable to ordinary consumers.
In introducing the Model T in October 1908, Henry Ford proclaimed, “I will build a motor car for the great multitude.” Before then, the decade-old automobile industry generally marketed its vehicles to only the richest Americans, because of the high cost of producing the machines. Ford’s Model T was the first automobile designed to serve the needs of middle-class citizens: It was durable, economical, and easy to operate and maintain. Still, with a debut price of $850, the Model T was out of the reach of most Americans. The Ford Motor Company understood that to lower unit cost it had to increase productivity. The method by which this was accomplished transformed industry forever.
(excerpted from https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/moving-assembly-line-at-ford)
