The Miami News from Miami, Florida • 51

HISTORY s-rj Filling The Sweet Teeth Of The Prairie Called Allapattah by agnes ash tfeS tr THE POLLERTS with their son Karl, decorating cake: teenagers, looking for a new thrill, prefer bread to the sugary goodies. just sit there 5 7'iy ONE OF MIAMI'S proudest neighborhoods now resembles a custom-made shoe which has been polished and mended for the last time. About 10 years ago, many of Alla-pattah's most steadfast residents moved on to more fashionable suburbs. Then, when the expressway intruded, several commercial landmarks disappeared. One notable institution' which elected to stay is Pollert's Bakery.

There chocolate eclairs, apfelstrudel, Danish pastry and birthday cakes in the shape of ships, telephones and guitars continue to be produced to the master baker's specifications pure butter, eggs, spice and everything expensive but nice. k. If you were reared in New York City, your appetite responds to the thoughts of the corner candy store where you could sip a two cents plain or chew a waxy candy replica of a watermelon slice. If your childhood memories are based in a small Midwestern town, you recall nickel sundaes and, root beer that tasted as if the recipe had come from pharmacopoeia. AUapattah kids, however, have a learned palate.

They grow to portly adulthood dreaming of the flakiest pastry and the richest nut brownies a conscientious German baker can In 1923 a German family named Potts-schmidt opened a small bake shop at 1714 NW 36th St. At that time, Allapattah was only 20 years past the day when it was called "Allapattah Prairie." The Semtaoles lived in the fringes of the Everglades and their raiding parties frequently cleaned out the sugar bowl in an early settler's kitchen. History indicates Ariapattah was always noted for its sweet tooth. The Puttschmidts made few cakes and pastries. They were essentially in the bread-making business and scarcely earned their own bread from the meager trade.

Allapattah was a sparsely settled community. But the Potts-schmidts struggled on, waiting for civilization to overtake them. In 1926 a young German, Bill Pollert, who had just emigrated from Westfallen, Germany to Cincinnati, Ohio, found himself a bride. She was a beautiful, brown eyed girl fresh from Austria, Marie Jagoditz. Pollert had been apprenticed to the best bakers in Germany at the age of 14.

Now in his early twenties, he had already earned his "master baker" papers. Marie and Bill were married in Cincinnati. They decided to look around the country before setting up housekeeping. The Pollerts headed for Florida, arriving in Miami right after the 1926 hurricane. Bin Pollert knew the Pott-schmidts when he was a boy in Germany.

He drove aimlessly through the wreckage left by the hurricane to see how his old friends had survived the storm. When Pollert walked into the bakery, he was greeted with great glee. His old friends were not only safe but extremely busy and needed an extra man at the ovens. Miami's real estate bust didn't seem to affect the yeast bread. It rose daily and the citizens of Allapattah spent what money they had on it.

The Pollerts lived a rather frugal life. Bill got to the bakery at 1 a.m. to set the yeast dough. While that was coming along, he rolled out pies and mixed cake batter. Within three years the young couple from Cin-cinatti had saved enough money to buy the bakery.

Since 1929, it has been known as "Pollert's." Marie Pollert sent for her sister, Rose, to join her in Miami. Rose came from Austria and still works in the 36th Street store. Rose's son, Bill Heller, also works at Pollert's. The Pollerts have two sons. Edwin manages the new bakery in Palm Springs shopping center which the Pollerts opened recently.

Edwin also does most of the cake decorating. On Saturdays, he often builds and festoons fifty special-occasion cakes. When customers demand unusual forms, Edwin manufactures his own molds. A great triumph came the day he constructed a cake in the shape of a guitar. It was designed for a customer who wanted to help Tennessee Williams celebrate the opening of his play, "Orpheus i get a Friedrich and be COOL! Lively, petite Marie Pollert estimates the East-West Airport Expressway cost Pollert's close to 800 customers.

"So many of the old families moved to more secluded residential neighborhoods. We still sell them baked goods. They come back from Coral Gables, Miami Shores, Cutler Ridge, Hollywood wherever they have resettled." Some old customers who live in Hialeah refuse to patronize Pollert's new nearby Palm Springs store. "They insist the baked goods in the old shop are better. I tell them we bake everything here in the back just as we always have and then transport it to the new store.

But some of the old customers can't believe it tastes the same unless it comes from this store," said Mrs. Pollert When school is out for the day, Miami Jackson High spills dozens of hungry teenagers into the bakery. They devour tray after tray of eclairs, brownies, cookies and cup cakes. Strangely enough, the youngsters are beginning to show a marked preference for bread crusty fresh rolls. This indicates cake is becoming commonplace in our well-filled larders.

The kids are looking for new ways to awaken jaded appetites. The Pollerts' other son, Karl, lives in Boston where he is in the interior decorating Karl has two daughters and his wife is awaiting her third child. Mrs. Pollert expects to fly to Boston as soon as she gets the important phone call. "I'm on the alert," she says.

The neighborhood bakeries like Pollert's are fading quickly from the American scene. The bakery no longer furnishes bread. This is largely mass produced and distributed in groceries. Cake mixes and frozen desserts have also made great inroads into the business. "We could make goods of less quality and attempt to compete with chain grocery prices.

But then why would customers patronize Pollert's? Our business comes from people who want quality and don't mind paying a few pennies extra to get it," reasons Mrs. Pollert. Right now, the maor portion of the business is in wedding cakes, which Pollert's sells both to private customers and caterers. "Our business changes. Everything changes," says Mrs.

Pollert philosophically. "During the depression we couldn't sell cake. But we sold bread all kinds including corn, bran, whole wheat and rye. Now it's cakes for birthdays, weddings, anniversaries and so on. The fancier the better.

Cake or bread, we always seem to make out." It would seem, however, that Pollert's 40-year reign in Allapattah may be drawing to a close as mat once-proud community itself continues to fade. Rust Proof Cabinet Vtr 5-Speed Operation 6-Woy Air Distribution ir Extra Quiet Performance (Full-Powered RriedrichSS DnnM aid rnMniTfOMUD WITH THE 5 YEAR GUARANTEE DIAL PL 8-2442 ROOM AIR CONDITIONER SERVICE, INC. 260 N.E. 59th MIAMI Soles and Service Since 1949 57 a cS PACE IS MIAMI The Miami New JUNE 14, 14.