Name/Title
Photo interior Hofmann's Bakery, c. 1919Entry/Object ID
2024.47.3Description
Acc. No. 24.47.3 A, B
Subject Category: Businesses of Alameda, Bakeries
Date or Period: c. 1919
Object: Photograph, digital (A), computer-printed (B)
Description: Photo of an original black-and-white photo of the interior of a building, with brick back wall, large table under a window, two wooden barrels, and three men, two of whom are wearing aprons. Above the men are objects with very long poles, resting on beams depending from the ceiling.
Size: (printed photo, B): L 8 1/2" x W 11"
History of Object: View of Hofmann's Bakery interior with family members at 918 Central Avenue, Alameda. Approximate date of photo, 1919. Left: George Hofmann (1896 San Francisco-1922 Alameda; uncle of the donor); center: Frederic Ewaldt Hofmann (12/23/1903 San Francisco-9/23/1987 Alameda; father of the donor), right: Christian Michael Hofmann (1873 Brinbaum, Bavaria-1942 Alameda; grandfather of the donor).
This room with the brick oven was to the rear of the bakery shop which fronted on Central Avenue. In back of George is the brick oven, originally fired with wood and later converted to gas. Along the left wall are 6 foot long shelves where bread was placed to rise before baking. Stored overhead, the long-handled peels are for placing and retrieving baked goods from the oven. On the center on the bench there are bread pans stacked on the lower level. On the right (west side), there is a marble-topped workbench below the window; and beyond, the "proof box cabinet", with a large round sifter hanging on the wall. Sweet dough used for pastry would be prepared for baking and then put into the proof cabinet to rise. The large barrel and bowl at near right were used for mixing bread dough. The wood floors that appear in the photo were replaced with cement when the donor was a child.
Donor: Frederica Kapp
Donation Date: 5/6/2022; Catalog Date: 5/22/2024