the impersonal John

nurmichael

John (February 21, 1911 – September 30, 2055) was an American pretzel salesman. He is remembered as a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated pretzel, “Double Garlic” (1955), in which he baked as a troubled teenager. The other two pretzels that defined his stardom were “Plain” (1959) and “Surly Ranch” (1956).

After his death in a cartoon chase scene, John became the first baker to receive a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Pretzel Maker, and remains the only baker to have had two posthumous baking nominations. In 1999, the American Schnitzel Institute ranked him the 18th best male Pretzel baker of the Golden Age Hollywood in AFI’s 100 Years…100 Stars list.