Breaking Down “The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread”

“That’s the greatest thing since sliced bread!” Where did this expression come from? And is sliced bread really that great? Discover the sliced bread history and decide for yourself if it’s really one of the greatest inventions ever.

Slice Bread History, A Timeline

Before Sliced Bread
Bread has existed for tens of thousands of years. In the early 1900s, bread was either baked at home or purchased as loaves. It was around this time that automated baking units were invented for the mass production of bread. Consumers would cut their own slices which were often crooked and crushed.
 
1912
Otto Rohwedder, an American engineer and inventor from Davenport, Iowa, developed a bread slicing machine that both sliced and wrapped a whole loaf of bread to retain its moisture. It took him years of trials and errors including a fire in 1917 that destroyed his prototype and blueprints. That loss and redevelopment were followed by years of slow acceptance for his innovation.
 
1928
Rohwedder’s bread slicing machine was first exhibited at the bakery trade fair in America. From that exhibition, Chillicothe Baking Company in Missouri bought the first machine. That same year, the machine was sold to bakeries across the country.
 
1930
Just two years later, large bakeries that manufactured lightweight loaf bread purchased commercial bread slicers. The automated slicing machine was the perfect answer for both businesses and consumers for the perfectly sliced bread. One such company was Wonder who produced the famous Wonder Bread.
 
1933
By 1933, 80% of bread in the US was pre-sliced and wrapped. The machine popularized sandwiches and increased the consumption of bread (because of two slices and instead of just one).

This was the year that bread was advertised as “the greatest forward step in the baking industry since bread was wrapped.” And from that, the tag line then developed to “the greatest thing since sliced bread.” Today, that expression is still used to praise an invention or development.
 
1943
Ten years after the love of sliced bread, the war forced a ban on sliced bread in an attempted to conserve food reserves, paper, and plastic. Just two short months later, the ban was lifted after overwhelming complaints. Plus, the ban did not actually save a thing. The people were better off happily eating their sandwiches.
 

Today, sliced bread is as popular as ever all around the world. Rohwedder’s machine has certainly proved to be one of the greatest inventions that is still appreciated over a hundred years later.

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