“There is nothing quite as comforting as a slice of delicious Kringle and a cup of hot coffee.” – Olesen family saying.
About 20-or-so miles north of the state line between Illinois and Wisconsin, and 22 miles south of Milwaukee is the town of Racine. Racine was founded in 1834 as Port Gilbert but the name never was popular with the residents. In 1836 the town name was changed to Racine which is a French word for the nearby Root River.
With the establishment of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed buildings of the S.C. Johnson administration and research complex, there came an influx of Scandinavian immigrants to the area.
Part of the heritage these Scandinavians brought to the so-called New World was the range of tempting baked goods for which the Danes are well-known.
Easily the most famous bakery in the Racine area, if not the entire Great Lakes region, is the O&H Danish Bakery. It was established in the early 1940s, but they had been baking tasty treats for at least a generation prior to that.
O&H Danish Bakery
The ‘O’ in O&H is the Olesen family, and they are credited with bringing the Danish Kringle treat to Wisconsin. The Kringle is scratch-made at O&H and is available with 21 fillings, including the popular apple and cherry as well as less well-known fillings such as Mediterranean Apricot and Tiramisu. Each Kringle takes 3 days for O&H’s bakers to make.
O&H’s Kringle
The raspberry and the pecan Kringle
O&H features Gokstad premium coffee named after the 9th century Viking longship. The coffee beans are roasted right in Racine for best freshness, and I can assure you that this coffee hits the spot!
More than just Kringles
The Washington Avenue bakery location (from which all of the tasty goodness originates) is hard to miss with the replica Viking longship out front!
O&H’s Washington Avenue location
So, you might ask, what does all of this have to do with pinball? Just a bit more patience from our readers and I will explain it to you.
O&H Danish Bakeries had several locations in the town of Racine and became somewhat of a tourist destination where people on Wisconsin
