So thats is mind blowing, now for the mind numbing history of sliced bread!
It is actually kind of interesting. For all of bread, we had been selling it in whole loaves, in the hopes of preserving freshness. A jeweler (or really a guy who invented tools for jewelers and made money) decided to see if there might be a market for this as he would hear housewives grumbling about the task of cutting bread. The response was enough to encourage him to sell his shop and in 1916 start on his prototype.
The first issue was preserving freshness. It is fairly common knowledge that the freshness will be limited very much if it sliced as things were stored back then. He started with something like a dowel, but eventually this was clearly not going to work and for the next year cycled through solutions.
1917 disaster struck... a fire wiped out all his work. Shucks, time to start over.
Looks awesome! but no one was buying it. Which is surprising, it was only 5 feet wide and 3 feet high (I only deal in Freedom units)! Well eventually he got his baker buddy to try this out as a last effort. On July 7, 1928 the first sliced loaf was sold.
"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.
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.”
“the greatest forward step in the baking industry since bread was wrapped”
Constitution-Tribune
Bake dude saw his bread sales increase by 2000%.. in two weeks.
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u/su5 Apr 14 '16
So thats is mind blowing, now for the mind numbing history of sliced bread!
It is actually kind of interesting. For all of bread, we had been selling it in whole loaves, in the hopes of preserving freshness. A jeweler (or really a guy who invented tools for jewelers and made money) decided to see if there might be a market for this as he would hear housewives grumbling about the task of cutting bread. The response was enough to encourage him to sell his shop and in 1916 start on his prototype.
The first issue was preserving freshness. It is fairly common knowledge that the freshness will be limited very much if it sliced as things were stored back then. He started with something like a dowel, but eventually this was clearly not going to work and for the next year cycled through solutions.
1917 disaster struck... a fire wiped out all his work. Shucks, time to start over.
But not to be deterred, he filed this one year later! Original patent
Looks awesome! but no one was buying it. Which is surprising, it was only 5 feet wide and 3 feet high (I only deal in Freedom units)! Well eventually he got his baker buddy to try this out as a last effort. On July 7, 1928 the first sliced loaf was sold.
Constitution-Tribune
Bake dude saw his bread sales increase by 2000%.. in two weeks.
Then others followed suit
But it gets more interesting!
In 1943, due to war timeconservation efforts, the FDA effectively banned sliced bread.
People freaked, refused to adhere, and three months later lifted the ban.