If you recall Mosler’s Bakery from 40 years ago, read this post by Michael Charles on Portland Food and Drink. Mr. Charles does far more justice to the bakery run by Harry Mosler (1882-1969, whose first name I always thought was "Mr.") than I could, and it’s hard to read his description of Mr. Mosler’s bagels without wanting to make some bagels yourself. After Mr. Mosler died and his bakery closed, supposedly someone showed up at the bakery/deli near Gabriel Park and applied for a job as a bagel maker. When given a tryout, he made bagels one-handed. "Wow!" said the owner. "I used to work for Mosler," said the applicant.
On weekends our family would go to Mosler’s Bakery and buy a bag of bagels and a loaf of challah, hot and fresh from the oven. Instead of putting it to the proper ritual use, we passed it around the car and tore out and gobbled chunks of the piping-hot sweet white bread inside, munching on the empty shell of the crust to finish. I miss the original Portland French Bakery also, that was on Second Avenue near Saturday Market, but that’s another story.
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My dad would always work at his downtown office Saturday mornings. The part remembered by us boys was Dad coming home with a bag from Mosler’s bakery and the bagels and bread eatten for lunch. That and Mrs Nushichine’s pickles. (I know I got the spelling wrong — someone who know’s better will have to correct me).