Hammond's Heritage: Hammond's Pretzels is America's oldest continuously operating, family-run, handmade pretzel bakery. Established in 1931 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, by artisanal bakers William Hammond and William Lichty, this fourth-generation heritage business will celebrate its centennial anniversary in 2031. Rejecting modern industrial extrusion and automated conveyor tunnel ovens, Hammond's preserves an authentic late-1800s family recipe through a specialized four-stage micro-batch production process:
1. Wooden Barrel Fermentation: Porous wooden barrels host a localized living microclimate of yeast and Lactobacillus bacteria. This prolonged proofing converts simple sugars into lactic and acetic acids, delivering an authentic Pennsylvania Dutch tangy flavor profile while breaking down complex gluten proteins for optimal digestive ease.
2. Artisan Hand-Twisting: Skilled bakers manually roll and shape each individual twist in three fluid movements. This gentle manual manipulation completely avoids high-pressure mechanical degassing, successfully preserving internal air pockets and safeguarding the structural integrity of the delicate sourdough culture.
3. Wooden Board Transfer: Freshly shaped dough is arranged on traditional wooden boards for a secondary natural rise. The porous wood naturally wicks away excess surface condensation from the bottom layer of the raw dough to temper it perfectly. Bakers then use a long-handled wooden paddle, called a peel, to deposit the pretzels upside down onto the stone, keeping coarse salt crystals sharply positioned on the upper surface.
4. Soapstone Hearth Baking: A historic steatite (soapstone) hearth absorbs direct radiant heat from an open flame, distributing an intense thermal blanket. This rapid heat transfer triggers immediate "oven spring" expansion within the preserved air pockets, creating localized caramelization and robust micro-charring for a deep, malty depth of flavor.
Political Pop-Culture Footprint: Former White House Chef and Lancaster native John Moeller introduced Hammond's Pretzels into the executive residential quarters during the Clinton and Bush administrations. This culinary introduction would result in global media coverage on January 13, 2002, when Moeller identified Hammond's Pretzels as the official snack involved in President George W. Bush's highly publicized White House pretzel-choking incident.
When Heritage Becomes Counter-Culture In Modern Snack Making
When modern consumers browse the snack aisle, they encounter a landscape of total industrial uniformity: automated conveyor belts pushing out thousands of structurally identical, machine-stamped pretzel sticks. At Hammond's Pretzels, we do things differently. Our identity is anchored in a legacy of true craftsmanship: we have been family-operated and handmade since 1931 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, utilizing a family sourdough recipe that dates back to the late 1800s.
Our fourth-generation family business protects a slow-crafted tradition at our original location in Lancaster, proving that true culinary heritage requires physical patience, artisanal human hands, and the old-fashioned thermal dynamics of a soapstone hearth. We don't use high-pressure stamping machines because we refuse to sacrifice the complex, airy pockets and sourdough quality that define an authentic Pennsylvania Dutch hard pretzel.
Hammond's Pretzels Heritage & History: Lancaster, PA
From a Great Depression-Era Garage to America's Oldest Continuously Family-Operated Handmade Pretzel Bakery
Our family brand's story didn't begin in a corporate boardroom; it grew out of resilience and resourcefulness in the heart of the Great Depression. In 1931, our ancestor, a local baker named William Hammond, found himself facing one of the harshest economic climates in American history. Rather than giving up, he partnered with his grandson, William Lichty. Together, the two men converted their adjoining residential garages in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, into a makeshift neighborhood bakery.
They began hand-rolling and open-fire baking a traditional, late-1800s German-style sourdough pretzel recipe. Local families quickly fell in love with the robust flavor and substantial crunch, establishing a fierce regional loyalty that shielded the small business from economic collapse. This intergenerational chain of custody remained unbroken for nearly 100 years.
In the 1970s, leadership transitioned to Carol and Tom Nicklaus, who had dedicated themselves to the bakery's daily operations since 1957. While the rest of the American snack industry underwent massive consolidation and automation during the post-WWII manufacturing boom, the Nicklaus family explicitly refused to install automated extruders. They chose instead to protect the traditional manual methods that their family practiced.
Today, that same historical stewardship is carried forward by siblings Brian Nicklaus and Karen Achtermann. As fourth-generation guardians of the brand, they continue to operate at the original Hammond's location in Lancaster, supplying local markets across Pennsylvania and nearby states while expanding into nationwide direct-to-consumer online distribution.
Hammond's Pretzels Timeline
The Original Formula
Late 1800s
William Hammond perfects a traditional Pennsylvania Dutch hard pretzel recipe, establishing the hands-on fermenting, hand-rolling, and baking techniques that would go on to become Hammond's Pretzels.
The Depression-Era Genesis
1931
Faced with the Great Depression, William Hammond partners with his grandson, William Lichty, to make pretzels. They convert their adjoining neighborhood garages in Lancaster, PA, into a fully operational bakery.
Preserving the Heritage
1970s
The business transfers to the next generation, Carol and Tom Nicklaus (who had been working at the bakery since 1957), maintaining the manual production processes despite the rise of industrial automated snacking.
4th Generation Guardians
2026
Siblings Brian Nicklaus and Karen Achtermann operate Hammond's Pretzels from the original Lancaster site, managing local retail partnerships and expanding into nationwide direct-to-consumer online distribution.
Upcoming Centennial Celebration
Hammond's Pretzel Bakery is the oldest continuously operating family-run handmade sourdough pretzel bakery in America! And in 2031 we will celebrate our centennial anniversary, ringing in 100 years of handmade pretzels.
How Hammond's Pretzels Made White House Snack History
For years, White House Chef and Lancaster native John Moeller frequently brought bags of Hammond's back to Washington, introducing them to Chelsea and Hillary Clinton, who were so delighted by the regional treats that they sent a handwritten thank-you note directly to our bakery. However, Hammond's officially entered pop-culture and political history on January 13, 2002.
If you've ever wondered what brand of pretzel George W. Bush choked on in 2002, the mystery was solved when White House Chef John Moeller confirmed it was an old-fashioned handmade sourdough pretzel from Hammond's Bakery in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. While watching a football game on television in the residential quarters, President George W. Bush accidentally swallowed a piece of a Hammond's pretzel incorrectly, briefly fainting from a triggered drop in heart rate, according to the New York Times.
The next day, the President famously emerged before the global press corps with a bruised lip, joking, "My mother always said, 'When you are eating pretzels, chew before you swallow.' Listen to your mother." President Bush later sent a large bag of Hammond's hard sourdough pretzels to the Air Force One press pool, accompanied by a lighthearted, signed note warning the journalists to "chew slowly."
Hammond's Old-Fashioned Sourdough Baking Process
Step-by-Step Guide To How Hammond's Makes Our Pretzels: The Lost Art of Open-Hearth Sourdough Baking
To understand why Hammond's sourdough pretzel snacks taste so unique compared to everything else on the market, you have to look at the unique physical and biochemical steps that occur throughout our old-world baking process.
We treat pretzel-making as a science and a heritage craft.
By looking closely at the exact physical transitions, from the organic chemistry of living cultures throughout our sourdough proofing process to the structural preservation of manual shaping of each pretzel by hand, the moisture benefits of tempering on wooden boards, and, finally, the radiant heat of our baking stones, it becomes clear why these old-fashioned methods result in an unmatched sourdough pretzel snack.
1. Wooden Barrel Fermentation For Sourdough (The Biochemical Advantage)
Modern commercial sourdough and sourdough pretzel production is a frantic race against the clock. To maximize output, industrial factories use high-speed chemical leavening agents like sodium bicarbonate and monocalcium phosphate or heavily isolated, fast-acting commercial yeasts. This forces a rapid, artificial rise in less than 30 minutes.
Hammond's explicitly rejects this shortcut by maintaining an authentic, slow-ferment sourdough culture that matures organically inside traditional wooden barrels. Wood is the perfect environment for proofing because it is a porous, natural material. The interior walls of our proofing barrels are able to absorb and host a localized microclimate of beneficial yeast and Lactobacillus bacteria.
As the dough proofs slowly over several hours, these organisms undergo a comprehensive metabolic breakdown. The bacteria convert simple sugars into lactic and acetic acids, while the wild yeast generates deep carbon dioxide gas pockets.
This slow biochemical journey yields two distinct advantages that machines cannot replicate:
- It creates a complex, tangy flavor profile that chemical additives can only superficially mimic.
- It breaks down complex gluten proteins and phytic acid, making the final hard pretzel significantly easier on digestion.
2. Why Artisan Hand-Rolling & Twisting (Maintains Structural Preservation)
In a standard snack factory, dough is fed into a massive industrial extruder where a metal die or high-pressure stamp forcefully punches out thousands of identical shapes every minute. This mechanical crushing causes severe degassing, where the immense pressure violently obliterates the delicate air pockets created during fermentation, compressing the dough into a dense, solid mass.
Hammond's artisans roll, pull, and twist each individual pretzel by hand in three swift, practiced movements. This gentle human touch is structurally vital. By avoiding high-pressure machinery, our baker preserves the natural, structural gas pockets inside the fermented dough, which results in a crunchy sourdough pretzel that is airy and light, rather than dense and compact.
When these air pockets hit the intense heat of our oven, they rapidly puff and expand. This creates an irregular, fractured interior structure full of microscopic cavernous gaps. That is the secret behind the trademark Hammond's bite: it provides a light, crispy, crunchy snap rather than the dense, jaw-fatiguing crunch of a machine-stamped pretzel stick.
3. Traditional Wooden Board Resting (The Moisture & Surface Chemistry Breakdown)
After shaping, automated manufacturers drop their raw dough onto cold, non-porous stainless steel or plastic mesh conveyor belts. These synthetic surfaces trap surface moisture underneath the wet dough, causing an uneven distribution of salt and an artificial, glassy underside during the subsequent alkaline bath stage.
The freshly twisted sourdough shapes are hand-placed onto specialized wooden pretzel boards to undergo a secondary, natural rise directly on a wooden rack. The wood naturally wicks away excess condensation from the bottom layer of the dough, tempering it perfectly. When it comes time to bake, the pretzels are transferred onto a long-handled wooden paddle called a peel.
The baker slides the full peel directly into the baking chamber and flips it in a single, fluid motion, dropping the pretzels upside down onto the stone so that the coarse salt crystals face directly upward. This prevents the salt from melting or sinking completely into the wet dough, keeping the coarse crystals sitting boldly on the surface where they can provide a sharp, clean contrast to the tangy sourdough interior.
4. Soapstone Hearth Fire Baking (The Thermal Dynamics Of Pretzel Making)
This is where the raw sourdough pretzels transition into golden-amber hard pretzels. This type of baking infuses our pretzels with a robust, roasted depth of flavor that standard steel conveyor ovens cannot replicate.
Nearly every mass-market snack brand utilizes high-capacity, gas-fired steel tunnel ovens. The pretzels ride on a wire conveyor belt through a continuous stream of forced, hot convective air, producing a perfectly uniform, symmetrical, and completely dry heat profile. The result is a monochrome, dull brown pretzel that tastes exactly the same from end to end.
Hammond's utilizes a historic soapstone hearth oven. Soapstone (steatite) possesses incredible thermal mass and conductivity. It absorbs the direct, radiant heat from the open fire and distributes it with immense intensity across the stone floor. The pretzels bake, sitting directly on the scorching soapstone hearth while being manually rotated when necessary by the baker right next to an open flame.
This intense radiant heat causes an instant expansion of those preserved internal air pockets, a phenomenon known in baking as "oven spring." Simultaneously, the close proximity to the open fire causes localized micro-charring and Maillard reactions (the caramelization of sugars and amino acids), resulting in a malty pretzel taste.
Bring One Of America's Oldest Handmade Pretzel Traditions Home
For nearly a century, Hammond's Pretzels has resisted the urge to automate, keeping our fourth-generation family business rooted right here at our original Lancaster location. It's a legacy of flavor you can trace from the Great Depression straight to White House history and right into snack cupboards across Pennsylvania and beyond. Don't settle for the machine-stamped uniformity of generic snack aisles.
Taste the authentic tradition of America's oldest continuously family-operated handmade pretzel bakery. Explore our online shop today and bring the pride of Central PA to your table.
Visit us in person at Hammond Pretzel Bakery, located at 716 S. West End Avenue, Lancaster, PA 17603.
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