Why are there 13 in a bakers dozen?

Question

Why are there 13 in a bakers dozen?

Answer 1

12 are for selling and one is for the baker :D

Answer 2

Long ago as part of their pay a baker was allowed to take home a dozen of what ever they were baking, and he would take an extra.The practice was so well known that 13 became known as a baker's dozen.

Answer 3

This started around medieval times when people would complain to the King that a merchant cheated them out of bought goods and the King would impose severe punishment

People were not always taught how to read and write along with mathematics.  

Merchants that was found guilty of cheating its customers faced severe punishment such as imprisonment or having their hands cut off.

To avoid punishment a merchant would add 1 more to the dozen as extra measure to insure the customer got what they paid for and to protect them selves

Answer 4

In about the thirteenth century in England a baker could be severely punished for short changing a customer so they put an extra whatever to insure that this didn't happen.  Check: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baker's_doz...   Interesting reading. ...Good Luck...

Answer 5

I think it was so they could eat one on the way to deliver them. :)

In olden days,bakers who were found to have shortchanged customers could be liable to severe punishment. To guard against the punishment of losing a hand to an axe, a baker would give 13 for the price of 12, to be certain of not being known as a cheat.

Answer 6

The 13th one was for the seller to make their profit