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{{Short description|Brand of bread products in North America}}
{{Other uses|Thomas (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Logo of Thomas'.png|thumb|Thomas' logo]]

'''Thomas'''' is a brand of [[Muffin (English)|English muffins]] and [[bagel]]s in [[North America]], established in 1880. It is owned by [[Bimbo Bakeries USA]], one of the largest baking companies in the United States, which also owns [[Entenmann's]], [[Sara Lee Corporation|Sara Lee]], Stroehmann, and Arnold Bread companies.<ref name= BBvB>{{citation| url= http://www2.ca3.uscourts.gov/opinarch/101510p.pdf |title= Bimbo Bakeries, Inc. v. Chris Botticella| publisher= 613 F.3d 102 (3d Cir. 2010)| via= UScourts.gov| date= July 27, 2010| access-date= November 25, 2018}}{{paywall}}</ref><ref name= OurB>{{cite web| url= https://www.bimbobakeriesusa.com/brands| title= Our Brands| website= bimbobakeriesusa.com| publisher= Bimbo Bakeries USA| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20150908075213/https://www.bimbobakeriesusa.com/brands | archive-date= September 8, 2015 | url-status= live| access-date= August 14, 2017}}</ref>  Advertisements for the muffins place emphasis on their "nooks and crannies".<ref name= BBvB /> The company also produces toasting or swirl bread, [[pita]]s, wraps, and bagels.{{Citation needed|date = January 2017}}

==History==
[[File:Muffin House watering jeh.jpg|thumb|upright|The "Muffin House" in Manhattan, home of Samuel Bath Thomas' second bakery, and ancestor of Thomas' English Muffins]]

The company was founded by Samuel Bath Thomas (1855–1919), who emigrated from [[England]] to [[New York City]] in 1874<ref name= Know>{{cite news| url= https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/28/nyregion/28muffins.html| work= [[The New York Times]]| title= Do You Know the Muffin Man Was on West 20th Street? |first= Emily| last= Vasquez| date= July 28, 2006| access-date= August 14, 2017}}</ref> and after other menial jobs began working in a bakery.<ref name= WPop>{{cite web| url= http://www.wholepop.com/features/toasters/othertoaster3.htm | website= wholepop.com; Whole Pop Magazine | publisher= MAXIMA Multimedia| title= Best Thing since Sliced Bread — Part III| date= | access-date= August 14, 2017}}{{dead link|date=June 2025}}</ref> By 1880, he had purchased a bakery at 163 [[Ninth Avenue (Manhattan)|Ninth Avenue]] in [[Manhattan]],<ref name= WPop /> where he featured his namesake griddle-cooked muffins.<ref name= WPop /> The business expanded to 337 West 20th Street, today designated with a plaque as "The Muffin House".{{Citation needed|date = January 2017}} Thomas died in 1919, and the company, S. B. Thomas, was inherited by his daughter and nephews, and was [[Corporation|incorporated]].<ref name= WPop /> Later, it was owned by [[George Weston Bakeries]].<ref name= Know />

Some television commercials for the muffins have highlighted the immigrant story of Thomas, joking about how disappointed his fans in England supposedly were when he decided to take his muffins to America. (Whether the muffins were invented after Thomas had moved to the U.S. is unclear,<ref name= Know /><ref name= WPop /> but the chiding in the commercials is not intended to be accurate, merely humorous.

In 2010, the company won a [[trade secret]] suit<ref name= BBvB /> when an executive uploaded the company's recipes then went to work for [[Old HB|Hostess]].<ref>{{ cite news
| title = A Man With Muffin Secrets, but No Job With Them
| newspaper = The New York Times
| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/07/business/07muffin.html
| date = August 6, 2010
| first=William
| last=Neuman
}}</ref> Annual sales in 2010 for Thomas' English Muffins were estimated to be US$500 million.<ref name= BBvB />

==See also==
* [[List of brand name breads]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{commonscat}}
* {{Official website|http://www.thomasbreads.com/}}

{{Bimbo}}

[[Category:Bagel companies]]
[[Category:Brand name breads]]
[[Category:Grupo Bimbo brands]]
[[Category:Companies established in 1880]]


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