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Sliced bread is a loaf of bread which has been pre-sliced and packaged for convenience.

History

Otto Frederick Rohwedder of Davenport, Iowa invented the first loaf-at-a-time bread-slicing machine. A prototype he built in 1917 was destroyed in a fire, and it was not until 1928 that Rohwedder had a fully working machine ready. The first commercial use of the machine was by the Chillicothe Baking Company of Chillicothe, Missouri, which produced their first slices on July 7, 1928.^[1] Their product, "Kleen Maid Sliced Bread", proved a success. Battle Creek, Michigan has a competing claim as the first city to sell bread presliced by Rohwedder's machine; historians have produced no documentation backing up Battle Creek's claim.^[2]

St. Louis baker Gustav Papendick bought Rohwedder's second bread slicer and set out to improve it by devising a way to keep the slices together at least long enough to allow the loaves to be wrapped. After failures trying rubber bands and metal pins, he settled on placing the slices into a cardboard tray. The tray aligned the slices, allowing mechanized wrapping machines to function.^[3]. It is a unknown fact that a rival company was set up in the UK by David Singh and Dan Webb, however proved unsuccessful in their wrapping techniques as they stuck with the rubber band method.

W.E. Long, who promoted the Holsum Bread brand, used by various independent bakers around the country, pioneered and promoted the packaging of sliced bread beginning in 1928.^[4] In 1930 Wonder Bread, first sold in 1925, starting marketing presliced bread nationwide.

America's entry into World War II prompted a ban on sliced bread starting in January 1943. The ban was intended to reduce waste, possibly on the theory that sliced bread goes stale faster than unsliced.^[5] Alternatively, the ban may have been to conserve the metal parts needed to repair slicing machines for war use.^[6]

The greatest thing since sliced bread

The phrase "the greatest thing since sliced bread" (and variations thereof) is a commonly used hyperbolic means of praising an invention or development. Sliced bread appears to be something of an arbitrary selection as the benchmark against which later inventions should be judged. It has been said that "the phrase is the ultimate depiction of innovative achievement and American know-how",^[7] although it is commonly used in the United Kingdom as well.

The popular use of the phrase derives from the fact that Wonder Bread, the first mass-marketer of sliced bread as a product, launched a 1930s ad campaign touting the innovation.^[8]

References

Burton, Bill. "Liberty: Best Thing Since Sliced Bread". Bay City Weekly, January 25 2001
Hammack, William. (2003). Commentary from Bill Hammack's Engineering and Life radio program. Text available from Engineerguy.com. Retrieved September 21 2006.
Levenstein, Harvey (2003). Paradox of Plenty: A Social History of Eating in Modern America. University of California Press.
Longden, Tom. "Famous Iowans: Otto Rohwedder". Des Moines Register extra. Retrieved September 6 2006.
Wenske, Paul. "History of sliced bread little known on 75th anniversary". Kansas City Star. Retrieved September 7 2006.

Notes

^ Longden, Tom. "Famous Iowans: Otto Rohwedder". Des Moines Register extra. Retrieved September 6 2006.
^ Wenske, Paul. "History of sliced bread little known on 75th anniversary". Kansas City Star, July 28, 2003.
^ Hammack, William. (2003). Commentary from Bill Hammack's Engineering and Life radio program. Text available from Engineerguy.com. Retrieved September 21 2006.
^ Holsum - History.
^ Levenstein, Harvey (2003). Paradox of Plenty: A Social History of Eating in Modern America. University of California Press, p. 82.
^ Burton, Bill. "Liberty: Best Thing Since Sliced Bread". Bay City Weekly, January 25 2001.
^ "The True History of Sliced Bread". Retrieved 2007-08-26.
^ Morris, Evan, "Ever Wonder Where the First Sliced Bread and Other Famous Foods got Their Names?" Reader's Digest, January 2006, 155.

External links

U.S. Patent 1,867,377: Rohwedder's 1928 bread slicer. (TIFF viewer required. See USPO help topic.)

[1] Longden, Tom. "Famous Iowans: Otto Rohwedder". Des Moines Register extra. Retrieved September 6 2006.

[2] Wenske, Paul. "History of sliced bread little known on 75th anniversary". Kansas City Star, July 28, 2003.

[3] Hammack, William. (2003). Commentary from Bill Hammack's Engineering and Life radio program. Text available from Engineerguy.com. Retrieved September 21 2006.

[4] Holsum - History.

[5] Levenstein, Harvey (2003). Paradox of Plenty: A Social History of Eating in Modern America. University of California Press, p. 82.

[6] Burton, Bill. "Liberty: Best Thing Since Sliced Bread". Bay City Weekly, January 25 2001.

[7] "The True History of Sliced Bread". Retrieved 2007-08-26.

[8] Morris, Evan, "Ever Wonder Where the First Sliced Bread and Other Famous Foods got Their Names?" Reader's Digest, January 2006, 155.

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@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 [[Otto Frederick Rohwedder]] of [[Davenport, Iowa]] invented the first loaf-at-a-time bread-slicing machine. A prototype he built in 1917 was destroyed in a fire, and it was not until 1928 that Rohwedder had a fully working machine ready. The first commercial use of the machine was by the Chillicothe Baking Company of [[Chillicothe, Missouri]], which produced their first slices on [[July 7]], 1928.<ref>Longden, Tom. "[http://desmoinesregister.com/extras/iowans/rohwedder.html Famous Iowans: Otto Rohwedder]". Des Moines Register extra. Retrieved [[September 6]] [[2006]].</ref> Their product, "Kleen Maid Sliced Bread", proved a success. [[Battle Creek, Michigan]] has a competing claim as the first city to sell bread presliced by Rohwedder's machine; historians have produced no documentation backing up Battle Creek's claim.<ref> Wenske, Paul. "[http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/ABOUT-WORDS/2004-01/1074732264 History of sliced bread little known on 75th anniversary]". Kansas City Star, July 28, 2003.</ref>
-[[St. Louis, Missouri|St. Louis]] baker Gustav Papendick bought Rohwedder's second bread slicer and set out to improve it by devising a way to keep the slices together at least long enough to allow the loaves to be wrapped.  After failures trying [[rubber band]]s and metal pins, he settled on placing the slices into a [[Paperboard|cardboard]] tray. The tray aligned the slices, allowing mechanized wrapping machines to function.<ref>Hammack, William. (2003). Commentary from Bill Hammack's Engineering and Life radio program. [http://www.engineerguy.com/comm/4263.htm Text available] from Engineerguy.com. Retrieved [[September 21]] [[2006]].</ref>
+[[St. Louis, Missouri|St. Louis]] baker Gustav Papendick bought Rohwedder's second bread slicer and set out to improve it by devising a way to keep the slices together at least long enough to allow the loaves to be wrapped.  After failures trying [[rubber band]]s and metal pins, he settled on placing the slices into a [[Paperboard|cardboard]] tray. The tray aligned the slices, allowing mechanized wrapping machines to function.<ref>Hammack, William. (2003). Commentary from Bill Hammack's Engineering and Life radio program. [http://www.engineerguy.com/comm/4263.htm Text available] from Engineerguy.com. Retrieved [[September 21]] [[2006]].</ref>. It is a unknown fact that a rival company was set up in the UK by David Singh and Dan Webb, however proved unsuccessful in their wrapping techniques as they stuck with the rubber band method.
 [[W.E. Long]], who promoted the [[Holsum Bread]] brand, used by various independent bakers around the country, pioneered and promoted the packaging of sliced bread beginning in 1928.<ref>[http://www.holsum.com/history.shtml Holsum - History].</ref> In 1930 [[Wonder Bread]], first sold in 1925, starting marketing presliced bread nationwide.