The best thing since sliced bread. You have heard this phrase, maybe even said it. My retired neighbor Ron recently told me that he remembered when sliced bread first became available in stores in his Nebraska hometown. “It was a game-changer,” he remarked.
My daughter Sara and I were intrigued by his story and wondered aloud when sliced bread became mainstream. I assured them I would look into it.
First, a little history, courtesy of history.com. Humans have been baking bread one way or another for 30,000 years, but sliced bread has only been around since 1928, when Iowa-born Otto Rohwedder invented the slicing machine.
The Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune printed that the typical housewife could expect “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.”
Clearly, those with obsessive-compulsive disorders were rejoicing alongside Rohwedder.
Wonder Bread was one of the first brands to distribute sliced bread, and its sales skyrocketed once it was marketed in sliced form. Why not? Perfectly shaped. Evenly cut. Soft to the touch.
Sliced bread got me thinking about other foods we slice. Of course, we slice pizza and cake and pie, but what about packaged foods like sliced meat, sliced cheese and sliced fruit?
Aside from food, we also slice golf balls and budgets, and I even used to drink a soft drink in the 1980s called Slice. That’s a lot of slicing.
Have we really gotten that lazy that we can’t physically cut our foods with a knife? I am not sure about the lethargy factor, but we have definitely lost the art of slicing by hand — at least I have. I see proof of it each time I mangle a loaf of bread, and I am mocked for it by my dinner guests. I cover by stating I am simply breaking the bread like Jesus did. Meanwhile, I am learning that slicing bread is all about cutting slowly and having the proper bread knife, which I am told is the best thing since sliced bread.
Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
Have a wonderful Wednesday, and thanks for reading.
Shane Goodman
President and Publisher
Big Green Umbrella Media
shane@dmcityview.com
515-953-4822, ext. 305
