THE BEST THING SINCE SLICED BREAD
Once upon a time, there was no such thing
as buying pre-sliced bread.
But in 1928, Otto Rohwedder invented an automatic commercial bread slicer machine. The machine was used in Frank Bench’s Baking Company in Chillicothe, Missouri. The loaves of freshly sliced bread were an immediate hit with customers.
By 1930, Rohwedder’s Mac-Roh Company sold the patent for its bread slicer to the Continental Baking Company. The company sold its sliced bread under the Wonder Bread label, and consumers loved the convenience of this new food item. It gave their bread knives a rest!
During World War 2, on January 18, 1943, the U.S. government banned bakeries from using the machines and the wax paper to wrap it in. They claimed the machines were too expensive to use and bakeries would save money and pass the savings on to consumers. Restaurants, hotels, and dining cars on railroads were given 60 days to prepare to stop using the slicing machines.
The decision caused a frenzy among everyone, especially American housewives. Housewives complained and wrote letters to their governing agencies, and many businesses risked paying fines if they were caught using bread-slicing machines. Eventually, the ban on sliced bread only caused a decrease in bakery sales, so it was lifted on March 8, 1943.
Chillicothe, a small town in Missouri, claims a slice of history that changed the lives of Americans forever. And that’s why we hear the phrase, “That's the best thing since sliced bread.”
Resources:
5
Inventions That Came Out of the Great Depression — History Facts
The
best loan since sliced bread | National Museum of American History
The
Time the U.S. Government Banned Sliced Bread | Mental Floss
