Lender's Bagel Bakery was established by Harry Lender, a Jewish baker originally from Chelm, Poland. He had immigrated to the United States from Lublin in August 1927. His surname is a transliteration of the Yiddish word meaning "countryman" or "person living in a rural area" (cf. modern German Länder).Balinska, Maria (2008), pp.149-150 After first working in a bagel bakery in Passaic, New Jersey, Lender purchased his own bakery on Oak Street in New Haven, Connecticut, for $600. He arranged for his family to join him in the United States and they arrived on December 30, 1929.
