Once news hit that Herman’s Bakery would be closing its doors on March 31 after a 103-year run—due to its owners wanting to slow down and prioritize their health—customers formed lines out the door to stock up on their favorite fudge-topped cookies, strawberry shortcake, and German chocolate cake.
It’s no wonder why. Herman’s has been revered by Baltimore for generations. But for me, it’s a family legacy—all credited to the perseverance of a quiet but ambitious immigrant who found success despite minimal education.
The history of Herman’s begins with Harry’s Bakery in East Baltimore. It’s namesake, Harry Francis Herman, who we called “Grandpop,” was born in Russia in 1886 of Polish decent. He came to the United States “on the boat” when he was six years old, likely due to extenuating family circumstances. He was sent to Baltimore by his biological parents to live with a family he didn’t know.
His Polish name was Waclaw Grzeskowiak, and it’s still something of a family mystery as to why he changed it to Harry F. Herman. Grandpop’s naturalization papers were certified in 1918. He was described as “a short (5’5”) 32-year-old.” His indoctrination to the United States required him to denounce Czar Nicholas II of Russia.
In 1923, Grandpop opened Harry’s Bakery in a converted rowhouse on the corner of Fleet Street and Montford Avenue, on the fringe of Highlandtown and just a block south of Patterson Park. His family was growing, and he had to provide for them. He had apprenticed as a baker and knew the local clientele, so opening a bakery was an obvious choice.
It was a neighborhood where transplants from Poland, Lithuania, and Ukraine settled and united as a community. They loved Grandpop’s baked goods and fresh bread. Grandmoms in their babushkas would be greeted by my Aunt Dene with “Good Morning” or “Good Afternoon, Panie,” which means lady in Polish.
The year he achieved citizenship, Grandpop and his wife, Mary (age 28), already had four children. (Another was yet to be born). The youngest at the time was their son (my uncle), Harry James Herman, who was only three months old, but would ultimately become the heir apparent to the family business.
After working for his father for several years, my uncle realized that Dundalk was booming. It was the late ’50s, when big employers like Bethlehem Steel attracted a melting pot reminiscent of the East Baltimore neighborhood that had enabled Harry’s Bakery to thrive. In 1958, with his wife Sophia right by his side, Uncle Harry made the bold move to open Herman’s Bakery in Dundalk, ironically 40 years after his father became a U.S. citizen. Grandpop’s store, Harry’s, continued operating until 2003.
The façade of the new bakery on Holabird Avenue—with the business name spelled in block letters under retro-styled arches—became a local landmark. It started the expansion and contraction of the business, which at one time had locations in Baltimore-area malls including Golden Ring, Kenilworth, White Marsh, Hunt Valley, and Eastpoint. Compared to Harry’s little rowhouse cubical, which the family had to expand by taking out the first floor living room, the Dundalk store was huge. People came and went with regularity, and there rarely was a lull.
Uncle Harry’s children—Cassandra, Harry Jr., and Harriet—were a tad young to work in the bakery when it first opened, but that changed soon enough. Cassandra and Harry became fixtures, especially in the business’ heyday with its six locations. Eventually, so did their children, and their children. Four generations benefitted from the family affair. Customers were more like friends, and Herman’s products were in high demand for weddings, birthdays, and anniversaries.
Cassandra and Harry Jr. continued an active presence in recent years. But Cassandra’s daughter, Adrienne Porcella, has become the chief baker and “keeper of the formulas”—a term she uses to describe the time-honored recipes, some of which have been inspired by Old World techniques Uncle Harry picked up while in Europe.
I have many happy Herman family memories, including gathering around my grandparents’ kitchen every Saturday night for crabs and beer, and packaging fresh-baked cookies at Christmas time.
Through it all, Herman’s Bakery has been the thread that tied us together. But there would never have been a Herman’s without the vision of that young Polish immigrant Waclaw Grzeskowiak.
Mary Jo Tarallo was Ski Editor for the Evening Sun during the 80s, and she worked for the ski industry for almost 30 years after leaving the paper. She also worked for several nonprofits in the Baltimore area including United Way of Central Maryland, where she won a Gold Award for a campaign television show that starred Oprah Winfrey and Richard Sher.