You’ve heard the saying. We all have.
“It’s the greatest thing since sliced bread!”
But have you ever stopped mid-toast and wondered when exactly did sliced bread become the yardstick by which we measure all genius innovation? I did. And let me tell you, the rabbit hole was crusty, fascinating, and even involved a wartime ban. Yep. Sliced bread was once illegal!
Let’s head to the golden days of ingenuity and carb-loading: It all began with a fella named Otto Frederick Rohwedder from Davenport, Iowa. In 1912, he built a prototype for a bread-slicing machine only to have it destroyed in a fire. (Bummer, I know. That alone deserves a moment of silence.) It wasn’t until 1928 that Otto got the gears turning again, quite literally, with a machine that sliced loaves neatly and efficiently.
The very first loaf of pre-sliced bread was sold on July 7, 1928, at the Chillicothe Baking Company in Chillicothe, Missouri. 
They called their newfangled product Kleen Maid Sliced Bread and advertised it as “the greatest forward step in the baking industry since bread was wrapped.” Yeah, not so subtle, but effective. Needless to say it caught on fast.
By 1930, Wonder Bread—already a household name—began marketing pre-sliced bread nationwide. And by 1933, over eighty percent of bread sold in the U.S. came pre-sliced. In other words, folks were hooked. It was easy, tidy, and just made life better. (And if you’ve ever tried to slice a loaf evenly before coffee, you understand.)
On a side note, we used to pass by a Wonder Bread Bakery when our dad would take us to Lloyd Center, one of the first malls ever built in the United States. He would purposely slow down so we could roll down our windows and smell the wonderful scent of bread baking!
Any hoo, good ideas tend to snowball. A St. Louis baker named Gustav Papendick bought Otto’s second slicer but ran into a snag: the slices would fall apart before he could get them wrapped. He tried rubber bands. Metal pins. Probably even prayer.
Eventually, he hit on the idea of using a cardboard tray to hold the slices together long enough to wrap them. Voila! Bread didn’t just slice, it stayed sliced.
But the story doesn’t stop there. Enter stage left: W.E. Long, a marketing genius behind the Holsum Bread brand. He championed sliced bread like it was his personal mission, and thanks to him, sliced bread got packaged, promoted, and plunked onto grocery store shelves across America.
Now here’s where things get… well, a little weird. In 1943, during World War II, the U.S. government imposed a ban on sliced bread! Yes, you read that right. The Secretary of Agriculture, Claude R. Wickard, thought the extra wax paper required to package sliced loaves was wasteful. So, on January 18, 1943, sliced bread was pulled from shelves.
Cue the domestic rebellion. One distraught housewife wrote a letter to The New York Times, pleading her case:
“Without ready-sliced bread I must do the slicing for toast—two pieces for each one—that’s ten. For their lunches I must cut by hand at least twenty slices, for two sandwiches apiece. Afterward I make my own toast. Twenty-two slices of bread to be cut in a hurry!” Egads, that’s a lot of slicing! Fortunately, the backlash was swift and loud. By March 8, just 49 days later, the ban was rescinded. Turns out, the conservation benefit wasn’t nearly as significant as the inconvenience caused. Apparently, the greatest thing since sliced bread really was sliced bread.
Then, slicing went global. Britain got its first slicing and wrapping machine in 1937, at the Wonderloaf Bakery in London. By the 1950s, eighty percent of the bread in the UK was pre-sliced. Ireland calls it “sliced pan,” and the loaves are wrapped in waxed paper like a proper gift.
And if you want to start an international debate, ask folks what the proper thickness of a bread slice should be. In Japan, they
label loaves by how many slices they’re cut into: 4, 6, 8, or 10. (The higher the number, the thinner the slice.) In Canada and the U.S., Texas Toast laughs in thick-sliced superiority. And in Australia, you’ve got “toast,” “sandwich,” and the occasional “café” thickness to choose from.
So the next time you hear someone say, “It’s the best thing since sliced bread,” tip your hat to Otto Rohwedder. The man took a simple concept—cutting bread—and turned it into a revolution of convenience, consumption, and marketing magic.
Not bad for a guy from Iowa with a fire-singed dream. Now, if you’ll excuse me, all this talk of bread has me eyeing the toaster. And maybe a little jam. Or butter. Or both. Definitely both. No wait! Where’s my peanut butter?
How many of you bake your own bread? And if you don’t bake your own, could you imagine if all bread was sold unsliced? I think of the poor woman having to slice 22 slices of bread every morning and cringe.
USA Today bestselling author Kit Morgan is the author of over 180 books of historical and contemporary western romance! Her stories are fun, sweet stories full of love, laughter, and just a little bit of mayhem! Kit creates her stories in her little log cabin in the woods in the Pacific Northwest. An avid reader and knitter, when not writing, she can be found with either a book or a pair of knitting needles in her hands! Oh, and the occasional smidge of chocolate!
I occasionally bake my own bread. At Thanksgiving, you can find unsliced bread to be used for stuffing.
My grandma always called sliced sandwich bread light bread–it’s a southern term–as opposed to cornbread and biscuits which are heavier.
I’ve never heard the term, light bread, Denise. You learn something new every day!
Hey Kit! I think I saw a documentary on sliced bread. Yes, who would have ever thought! Genius! I would think you would need a special kind of knife to slice the fresh bread. Hence, the bread knife! No, I’ve never made bread, but I have received it before. And you do need a special knife, just saying!
Thanks for the history of sliced bread! I think I will have toast this morning with my coffee!
Many blessings!
Yes you do! I used to always make my own bread, but then Is either slice it too thick or too thin!
Interesting info about bread. I have made bread before, but many years ago. I used to work with a woman who grew up in a bakery (parents owned) and occasionally she would make some and bring it in. It was so good!
Oh, what a treat that would be, Karijean!
I was extremely impressed this wonder was produced by a man from my home state, Iowa! Yes, we do more than raise corn and hogs. It is a very productive state and full of highly intelligent people with great skills. My father was a farmer who loved to invent farming equipment ‘in his spare time’, if he ever had any. He was extremely industrious and a hard worker. I grew up in IOWA and still miss it today. Especially with the heat down here nowadays.
I also forgot, Yes, I have baked my own bread as my mother and grandmothers did before me. What a wonderful smell while baking. It makes it very hard to wait long enough when done before slicing a piece and loading it with butter. Never been anything to taste any better.
Yes, there’s nothing like fresh baked bread with butter!
Such a fun post, Kit. My husband will occasionally come home from the store with a fancy artisan bread loaf that we would slice when we wanted to make garlic toast with dinner. And then one day, he realized he could ask the folks at the bakery to slice it for him at no extra charge. Amazing! The best thing since sliced . . . oh, you get it. Ha!
Lol! Yes, I always forget that a lot of places will slice it for you.
Interesting!! And, I’ve used that saying a lot! I’ve made bread before, some that didn’t have to be kneaded, though! Bread is a downfall of mine, so it’s best if I don’t make it fresh!
Yeah, it’s hard not to eat the whole darn loaf when it’s fresh out of the oven!
I have baked my own bread, but then slicing it was not fun.
Serrated knives work best I discovered over the years.
I used to make all of our bread. When I landed a job and my hubby was still looking for one, he started making the bread. He also surprised me and started making cookies, too.
Oh wow! I’ve only known one guy that made bread, Barbara!
I have baked my own bread but I don’t eat much bread so I just get it at the store.
I don’t have time to bake bread anymore. And I shouldn’t eat much of it! So it all works out, Linda.
This is so very interesting , Thank you for sharing this awesome info Kit. We dont bake bread, we get it at the store. We will get French bread and my husband will slice it and it makes Great toast, we also get the reg. sliced loaves of bread.
I love French bread, Alicia!
My family still makes bread,but we also buy bread.
I can’t remember when I made bread last, Bridgette!
I used to make bread but haven’t in several years. The best way to eat it is with lots of butter while it’s hot
I’m with you, Bonnie! Hot and buttery!
WOW I didn’t know most of this! thank you for sharing.
I do on occasion bake my own bread. I make banana bread often, but that is a different category. Most of the time I buy sliced bread, but sometimes buy unsliced loaves. I do have a guide for cutting a loaf of bread evenly, but only standard rectangular loaves or smaller will fit. Depending on the day, I can slice bread the way I like it. Then there are the days when the slices are a half in thick on one end and nearly transparent on the other.
If I were in the situation of the woman who had to cut 22 sliced, I would use a time I wasn’t too busy and slice the entire loaf ahead of time. It is much easier if you aren’t in a rush.
Thank you for an interesting article. We do take for granted many of the time saving things that have been developed over the years. It was a whole lot more work to be a housewife and mother years ago.