Almanac: Sliced bread
(CBS News) And now a page from our "Sunday Morning" Almanac: July 7th, 1928, 85 years ago today . . . an historic day any way you slice it.
For that was the day the Chillicothe Baking Company of Chillicoth, Mo., sold America's very first pre-sliced bread, made possible by a slicing machine invented by the baker's friend, O.F. Rohwedder.
"The greatest step forward in the baking industry since bread was wrapped," in the words of the bakery advertisement.
The innovation quickly became the industry standard, as demonstrated in an instructional film for aspiring bakers:
"After cooling, the loaves go into a slicing and wrapping machine. Its razor-sharp blades slice about 40 loaves a minute. The machine does all the work!
Machine-sliced bread meant slices of uniform thickness . . . exactly the technological breakthrough required to launch the pop-up toaster.
Toaster sales soared. The toaster industry has seen many an innovative model over the years . . . some of the more exotic ones proudly displayed by toaster collectors (yes, they really exist!) at Octoasterfest, the convention our Bill Geist visited a few years back.
None of which would be possible without Otto Rohwedder, the man who laid down a challenge to every inventor who's ever followed . . . create, if you can, "the greatest thing since sliced bread."
For more info:
From the Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune, July 6, 1928: The article announcing the sale of sliced bread, in which the anonymous author exhibited a bright promise for a future career in marketing:
SLICED BREAD IS MADE HERE
Chillicothe Baking Co. the First Bakers in the World to Sell This Product to the Public
Announcement by M.F. Bench of the Chillicothe Baking Company of a new sliced bread service is significant in that it gives the Chillicothe Baking Company the distinction of being the first bakers in the world to sell sliced bread to the public.
The idea of sliced bread may be startling to some people. Certainly it represents a definite departure from the usual manner of supplying the consumer with bakers loaves. As one considers this new service one cannot help but be won over to a realization of the fact that here indeed is a type of service which is sound, sensible and in every way a progressive refinement in Bakers bread service.
Briefly this new Sliced Bread Service may be described as follows:
The Chillicothe Baking Company has installed a power driven multi-bladed bread slicer which performs a feat which heretofore had been considered by bakers as being impossible - namely, the slicing of fresh loaves.
Shortly after the loaves leave the oven and prior to the time when they are sent through the wrapping machine they are sliced by the Rohwedder Bread Slicer. This machine gently but rapidly pushes the loaf through a series of alternating blades which slice the entire loaf simultaneously. There is no crumbing and no crushing of the loaf and the result is such that the housewife can well 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.
As soon as the loaf has been sliced, two pins are inserted, one at each end and the loaf is held snugly together and of the loaf [sic] is still firmly held as a unit is ready for wrapping. When the housewife is ready to serve the bread, she opens the wrapper at one end, draws out the pin and then removes as many slices as she desires. This done, she folds the wrapper back over the open end of the loaf. The balance of the oaf [sic] is still firmly held as a unit by the remaining pin.
These pins by the way are a scientific product so treated that they are impervious to corrosion and remain bright and clean during their period of service.
After all the idea of sliced bread is not unlike the idea of ground coffee, sliced bacon and many other modern and generally accepted products which combine superior results with a saving of time and effort.
Of course there will be certain questions asked by conservative people when they first consider this departure from the age old practice of buying loaves that must be sliced at home.
"Will the loaf remain fresh?" is the first thought that comes to one's mind. Mr Bench informs us that exhaustive tests have established that the fact of the bread being sliced makes no difference in its ability to retain its fresh quality. So perfect is the slicing and so well is the loaf held together that there is appreciably no more moisture escaping from between the slices than escapes through the pores of the uncut crust.
"How thick are these slices?" is another question that will be frequently asked. Considerable research was made in order to arrive at a thickness of slice which would enjoy the widest possible public acceptance ad it was decided that a slice, slightly less than one half of an inch would be most suitable.
The fact that the slices of this improved product are so perfect will be especially pleasing to women who take pride in the technique of their table service. The slices stack perfectly, they are ideal for the making of neat, dainty sandwiches. For toasting purposes they are unexcelled.
The Chillocothe Baking Company takes considerable pride in announcing this new service and will at first offer KLEEN-MAID SLICED BREAD to the public with the feeling that old friends of Kleen-Maid Bread will be pleased and many new friends will be added.
Chillicothe may well be proud of the fact that the launching of this service was entrusted to a local organization -- the first bakers who have ever sold commercially sliced bread to the public.
Does this sound the death knell of the bread knife? Perhaps not for some time. It will however remove from many homes the chore of keeping the bread knife sharp in order to cut slices that can never be compared to the slices of the Kleen-Maid loaves that will be on sale at all grocers starting tomorrow.