August 25, 2012

Memories of the famous Peter Pan Bake Shop in Levittown

Click on photo to enlarge

Peter Pan was among the shops in this early 1950s photo. Mays is under construction.

WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER MOST ABOUT THE PAN PAN BAKE SHOP IN LEVITTOWN'S MAYS SHOPPING CENTER?


Practically every day I post a question about early Levittown in Facebook. Here are most of the replies to the above question.

Wendy Max Dunford: Oh my gosh, where to begin?? Yes, their bread was wonderful -- warm, crusty onion rye -- yum! They also had the best brownies I've ever had in my life. Never found any to compare. Also loved their chocolate babka and their assorted cookies and chocolate eclairs. My dad loved their Napoleons

Laurence Bory: My father insisted on getting their fresh rye bread. My mom would walk there and I lived to watch the slicing machine.

Frank Barning: The machine that cut their crusty, great smelling bread fascinated me.

Arnie Galeota: I loved standing on line just to take in the aroma for as long as I could. I gained weight just smelling the fresh baked bread and pastries. In those days I ballooned up to 130 pounds!

Allen Cheifetz: My Mom would go there every afternoon to get six rolls without seeds, for our dinner!

Pat Stanley Share: Cream puffs with REAL cream.

Toni Crescenzo Gelfer: I seem to remember a 7 layer cake which no one makes now..and wasn't there the famous string on the boxes?

Joan Bartel Signorelli: I remember the 7 layer cake. Every Sunday after church we picked one up. Yummy!

Leslie Sands Bell: The crumb buns. Sundays at our house were always bacon, eggs, rolls and danish and crumb buns from Peter Pan.

Toni Crescenzo Gelfer: My Dad always brought home crumb buns and rolls, every Sunday..but, we got ours from the bakery near Grand Union on Newbridge Road...I miss crumb buns.

Wendy Max Dunford: I miss the cookies. I'd get a pound of assorted just about every Sunday. They were $2.25 for a whole pound of them...and sooo good.

Toni Crescenzo Gelfer: I'm drinking coffee and want a crumb bun.

Gary DeCastillia: I had to ride my bike every Sunday morning to pick up a dozen buns and a dozen rolls

Lou Zinzer: My mother worked there 3 yearrs loved it because workers were allowed to take home the leftovers including layer cake.

Kathy Stahlman Zinn: How very rare it was for us to go there! - Mom was into Betty Crocker, and saving money,

Michelle Fromm-Lewis: My dad wouldn't eat dinner unless he had a hard roll from Peter Pan. Soft inside, crumbly hard outside crust. My parakeet, Pudgie, loved to walk on the table and eat those crumbs. Talking about crumbs, their crumb cake wonderful.

Leon Gussow: The napoleon pastries and the chocolate eclairs! Just thinking about them I gained 2 lb.

Roberta Landry Bremmer: Getting hard rolls and bagels after going to church on Sundays.

Doug Dittko: The health department shut them down twice.

Michelle Fromm-Lewis: Truthfully, being shut down by the health dept twice in as long as they've been there is a great record.

Dale Worness: Apple turnovers every Sunday and a cake for my 12th birthday.

Emily Estow Carroll: Great thrill for me driving the car doing errands especially getting the rye bread from Peter Pan. I seem to remember going to a bakery on Newbridge Road, too. And relatives visiting from the Bronx bringing stuff from Butterflake Bakery.

Jim Cain: Chocolate eclairs.

Frank Barning: Once again I have posed a question relating to food and more responses are posted than usual. Is there a message here about us? By the way, this is something like the 100th question I have posted over the past three months. Thanks for participating.