History of the Bakers Dozen and GIVEAWAY!

We've all heard of a baker's dozen, but have you ever wondered where and why we get 13 donuts?

After reading about a baker's dozen I went to Etymology to seen when the term was first used. It was 1590. Now that doesn't mean that was when the number 13 was used as a dozen by bakers but that was when the term was coined. 

There are a few theories on why we have the baker's dozen today but the most popular and widely accepted idea goes back to medieval times and that thing we still see today--greed. Back in the medieval times bread was a daily staple in all households. The bakers became a little greedy and started skimping a bit on the bread. Now when we think of bread, we think of this big loaf that has twenty or more slices. But in medieval times often the breads were small hand size loaves.
 

Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=59458975

Even today we cry foul if we are cheated on a package claiming one count and giving us less. Imagine now living in a time where you might work a whole day to buy the bread to feed your family and then you get the bread home to discover you'd been shorted!

The story goes that this practice of shorting the customers was becoming more and more prevalent. The bakers lined their own pockets by shorting their customers.

Aberdour Castle Dough trough used for leavening bread
picture by Rosser1954

The people had finally had enough of being cheated of their staple food and made such an outcry that the kings could not over look it any longer. The kings took action and levied heavy penalties against any baker accused of cheating his customer. Some sources claim that the penalty was a sever beating. Either way the bakers began adding one more to the dozen making it thirteen to avoid accidentally shorting the customer.

So here we are over 500 years later still enjoying the fruits of a medieval custom!

How about you? Do you know of any medieval customs or laws we follow today just because that is the way its always been done?

Leave a comment or answer the above question for a chance to win Shattered Memories set in Charleston, SC. Don't forget to leave your email address so I can contact you should you win. 

The Charleston earthquake has left destruction like nothing Doctor Andrew Warwick has ever seen. On a desperate mission to find the lady who owns his heart, he frantically searches through the rubble, where he finds her injured and lifeless. After she regains consciousness, the doctor’s hopes are quickly dashed as he realizes she doesn’t remember him. Things only get worse when he discovers she believes she’s still engaged to the abusive scoundrel, Lloyd Pratt. Now Drew is on a race with the wedding clock to either help her remember or win her heart again before she marries the wrong man.

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Debbie Lynne Costello is the author of Sword of Forgiveness, Amazon's #1 seller for Historical Christian Romance. She has enjoyed writing stories since she was eight years old. She raised her family and then embarked on her own career of writing the stories that had been begging to be told. She and her husband have four children and live in upstate South Carolina with their 5 horses, 3 dogs, cat and miniature donkey.