| Pizza first made its appearance in the United States
with the arrival of Italian immigrants in the late 19th century. This
was certainly the case in cities with large Italian populations, such as
San Francisco, Chicago, New York City, and Philadelphia
where pizza was first sold on the streets of Italian neighborhoods. In
late 19th century Chicago for example, pizza was introduced by a peddler
who walked up and down Taylor Street with a metal washtub of pizzas on
his head, selling his wares at two cents a chew. This was the way pizza
used to be sold in Naples, in copper cylindrical drums with false
bottoms that were packed with charcoal from the oven to keep the pizzas
hot. It wasn't long until small cafes and groceries began offering
pizzas to their Italian-American communities. |
