Polish American Food

Polish immigrants came to the United States in three major waves. The first, around the turn of the twentieth century, was driven by a chance for opportunity and was called “za chlebem,” literally “following the bread.” A second wave was spurred by economic and political pressure in the years just before and just after World War II. The third wave in the mid-1980s reflected a desire to escape economic chaos in the homeland. The first immigration waves coincided with industrialization and urbanization. Work in factories and the coal, steel, and shipbuilding industries brought Poles to cities like Chicago; Waterbury, Connecticut; Pittsburgh; Hamtramck, Michigan; and New York City. In the third immigrant wave, laborers, along with well-educated Polish professionals swelled existing Polish neighborhoods and created new ones in Seattle, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, and Atlanta.