You’ve heard the idiom “the greatest thing since sliced bread,” but have you ever stopped to wonder when (and by whom) sliced bread was actually invented? Here’s what you need to know:
Sliced bread was invented in 1928 by Otto Frederick Rohwedder, a man of many trades (he was an engineer, inventor, and jeweler with a degree in optics—talk about a resume).
Bakers of the time scoffed at Rohwedder’s idea for an automatic bread-slicing machine, but he didn’t let their skepticism stop him: He actually sold his Missouri jewelry store chain to fund his passion project.
In 1917, a factory fire destroyed his prototype and all of his blueprints. But Rohwedder—who believed with his whole heart and soul that sliced bread was the wave of the future, damn it—would not be deterred. The first mention of the machine, in the July 6, 1928 edition of the Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune, was a glowing review of the invention.
According to the article, the average housewife would experience “a thrill of pleasure when she first sees a loaf of this bread with each slice the exact counterpart of its fellows. So neat and precise are the slices, and so definitely better than anyone could possibly slice by hand with a bread knife that one realizes instantly that here is a refinement that will receive a hearty and permanent welcome.”
Chillicothe Baking Company debuted Kleen Maid Sliced Bread on July 7, 1928, a product that was met with mild success. A couple years later, when sliced Wonder bread was introduced, sliced bread became a kitchen staple.
On January 18, 1943, the U.S. government placed a ban on sliced bread.
“The Secretary of Agriculture maintained that sliced bread went stale faster and therefore Americans used more wheat, which was needed to feed the GIs,” during World War II, according to Why Do Donuts Have Holes?: Fascinating Facts About What We Eat And Drink by Dan Voorhees. “It was also said that bread-slicing machines that broke down needed metal parts to be fixed. The metal was better used for manufacturing guns, tanks, and ships.”
Fortunately for us, the ban was lifted on March 8, 1943.
The invention of sliced bread changed more than just the bread industry. It drastically affected how much bread was eaten (sandwiches were suddenly much easier to make at home), which resulted in increased sales of butter, jams, peanut butter, and other spreads.
Things Older Than Sliced Bread
The popular idiom “the greatest thing since sliced bread” is often used to praise new innovation and ideas.
To put into context just how relatively new the invention is, here are 10 modern day things older than sliced bread:
Betty White, who was born on January 17, 1922. This makes the actress a Capricorn and sliced bread the greatest thing since Betty White. You may have seen a viral meme inspired by this amazing fact floating around social media.
The first packet of sliced bread was sold in Chillicothe, Missouri, on July 7, 1928. The machine for slicing it was invented by Otto Frederick Rohwedder.
Sliced bread is a loaf of bread that has been sliced with a machine and packaged for convenience, as opposed to the consumer cutting it with a knife. It was first sold in 1928, advertised as "the greatest forward step in the baking industry since bread was wrapped".
History. Ancient Egyptian aristocracy had access to white bread. In this image bread is depicted in Egypt in about 2,500 BC. Bread made with grass grains goes back to the pre-agriculture Natufi proto-civilization 12,000 years ago.
Before the neat slices came along, bread was sold in loaves. People tore off chunks to eat, which probably gave rise to the rather aggressive idiom of “breaking bread together”. All this changed with Otto Frederick Rohwedder, of Davenport, United States, who decided bread should come pre-cut, in equal-sized slices.
Long, long ago, people made bread by hand. Each time you wanted a sandwich or a piece of toast, you had to get out a knife and slice a piece of bread for yourself. That all changed in 1928. That year, Otto Rohwedder of Davenport, Iowa, invented the world's first bread-slicing machine.
Potassium bromate, for example, is used by U.S. food manufacturers in over 100 estimated products to strengthen dough. In Europe, it is banned because of its suspected effects as a carcinogen.
The idiom 'Greatest thing since sliced bread' means that something is the best and most useful innovation or development invented for a long time. Example of use: "I've bought a new touchscreen computer, it's the greatest thing since sliced bread, I can't believe I ever worked without it".
Chillicothe Baking Company of Chillicothe, Missouri, was the first bakery to use the machine commercially, and it was used on July 7, 1928. But the slicing didn't go without problems.
Believe it or not, the toaster was invented before sliced bread. In 1893, Alan MacMasters of Scotland created an electric device he called the “Eclipse Toaster.” You can imagine why it had limited success, given that sliced bread was not yet invented and electricity itself was not widespread.
Another surprise is that China, with its population exceeding 1.4 billion people, comes in at around just 5.83 kilograms (almost 13 pounds) of bread per capita per year, and the second most populated country in the world, India, eats the least amount of bread, coming in a 1.75 kilos (or almost four pounds per person) ...
Around the oven, archeologists found wheat, barley, pea seeds and a palm-sized, round, “spongy” residue, it said in a press release Wednesday. Analyses determined that the organic residue was 8,600-year-old, uncooked, fermented bread.
1492 Legend has it Christopher Columbus brings a small crock of sourdough starter to the New World. Unleavened breads made from cornmeal, however, go on to be the first breads embraced by European settlers in the Americas.
On this day, July 7, in 1928, a bakery in Chillicothe, Mo., was the first to sell pre-cut bread using Otto Frederick Rohwedder's invention: the automatic bread-slicing machine.
Most are familiar with the decades-old expression above, but few can name the man who invented the bread-slicing machine that gave the world packaged, sliced bread in the 1920s. The inventor of this ingenious device was Iowa native Otto Frederick Rohwedder, born July 6, 1880, in Des Moines.
10,000 BC. There is extensive evidence of bread being made and consumed in Egypt some 10,000 years ago during the Neolithic period. Bread was a staple of Egyptian food and everyone from the pharaoh to peasants consumed it.
The practice of cutting bread into slices has its origins in convenience and practicality. Sliced bread became popular in the early 20th century with the invention of the bread slicing machine. Before the invention of mechanical bread slicers, bread was typically sold in whole loaves or large chunks.
Introduction: My name is Nathanael Baumbach, I am a fantastic, nice, victorious, brave, healthy, cute, glorious person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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