<div class="container"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-xs-12"> <h1>A Guy You've Never Heard of Invents The Worlds 'Greatest Thing!' </h1> <h2>Meet</h2> <h3>Otto Frederick Rohwedder</h3> <div class="content-top"> <p><strong>"It's the best thing since sliced bread!"</strong> Chances are, at some point in your life you’ve heard this classic saying. Today, sliced bread hardly seems like something to top the list of innovative and useful developments - yet the phrase ’The best thing since sliced bread’ continues to be a universal benchmark for excellence. Understanding the unique history behind this phrase might help you to see why!</p> </div> <i class="fa fa-angle-double-right"></i><h4>Meet the Man</h4> <div class="content-block"> <figure> <img class="img img-responsive" src="https://res.cloudinary.com/deufhuujk/image/upload/c_scale,w_308/v1472749482/ottof_xdasyn.jpg" alt="A portrait of Otto Frederick Rohwedder"> <figcaption>Otto Frederick Rohwedder<br> The inventor of the first commercial bread slicing machine.</figcaption> </figure> <p>Otto Frederick Rohwedder was born on July 7, 1880 and grew up in Davenport, Iowa. Before inventing the bread slicing machine, Rohwedder was first trained in optics and the production of eyeglasses. Rohwedder, studied optometry and graduated with a degree in optics in 1900 at what is now the Northern Illinois College of Ophthalmology and Otology in Chicago. From there, he became an apprentice to a jeweler, and eventually became the owner of three jewelry stores in St. Joseph, Missouri.</p><p>While living in Missouri, Rohwedder used his time working on jewelry and watches to invent new devices. Beginning in 1912, Rohwedder was convinced that his idea for a bread slicing machine would revolutionize the baking business. Not long after he sold his jewelry stores to finance his new venture.</p><p>In 1951 at the age of 71, Rohwedder retired from Micro-Westco Co. where he worked as the vice-president and sales manager of the Rohwedder Bakery Machine Division. He moved with his wife Carrie to Albion, Michigan to be closer to his two kids. He, died on November 8, 1960 in Concord, Michigan.</p> </div> <i class="fa fa-angle-double-right"></i><h4>A Slice of History</h4> <div class="content-block"> <figure> <img class="img img-responsive" src="https://res.cloudinary.com/deufhuujk/image/upload/c_scale,w_540/v1472750188/breadslicer_s8jtlt.jpg" alt="A photo and sketch illustrating the use of a bread-slicing machine."> <figcaption>The photo on the left is of the slicer showing the double bank of keen, jagged knives, delivering the sliced loaves. The sketch on the right, depicts how fresh bread loaves are conveyed through slicing knives.</figcaption> </figure> <ul> <li><b>1912</b> : Rohwedder begins creating a machine that will slice and package bread</li> <li><b>1917</b> : Tragedy strikes and Rohwedder’s blueprints and machine are destroyed in a fire</li> <li><b>1918-1926</b> : Rohwedder struggles to recoup losses and find investors</li> <li><b>1927</b> : Rohwedder successfully designs a machine that not only slices bread but also wraps it in waxed paper</li> <li><b>1928</b> : The first commercial bread slicer is complete and Rohwedder applies for his first patent on November 26, 1928. The first loaves of sliced bread are sold on July 7, 1928 </li> <li><b>1930</b> : The Continental Baking Company introduces sliced Wonder Bread</li> <li><b>1933</b> : Five years after its introduction, American bakeries are turning out more sliced than unsliced bread</li> <li><b>1943</b> : Sliced bread is banned</li> <li><b>1951</b> Rohwedder retires</li> </ul> <figure> <img class="img img-responsive" src="https://res.cloudinary.com/deufhuujk/image/upload/c_scale,w_511/v1472810491/otto_n7duoe.jpg" alt="Two of the original bread-slicing machines"> <figcaption>Two of the original bread-slicing machines</figcaption> </figure> </div> <i class="fa fa-angle-double-right"></i><h4>Pre-Sliced Bread BANNED in the US!</h4> <div class="content-block"> <figure> <img class="img img-responsive" src="https://res.cloudinary.com/deufhuujk/image/upload/c_scale,w_505/v1472856802/breadban_xfsel5.jpg" alt="A headline from The New York Times January 26, 1943."> <figcaption>The New York Times - January 26, 1943</figcaption> </figure> <p>Did you know sliced bread was almost banned? In 1943, Claude R. Wickard, the head of the War Foods Administrations and the Secretary of Agriculture, banned pre-sliced bread on January 18, 1943. Although the specific reasons behind the ban aren’t entirely clear, it was thought to be in an effort to conserve resources, particularly wax paper, wheat, and steel.</p><p>Per FDA regulations, pre-sliced bread was required to have a much thicker wax paper to preserve freshness compared to loaves sold whole, which would not dry out as fast. While this was one of the official reasons for the ban, according to the War Production Board, there was no shortage of wax paper, in fact, most bread companies had enough supplies to last several months.</p><p>Around WWII, the Office of Price Administration had approved an increase on flour prices, which were up an average 10%. Rohwedders bread slicing machine had been so popular, that in St. Louis alone sales had jumped by a whopping 80%. This naturally resulted in the price of bread increasing, as bakers tried to keep up with the increase in bread sales. Claude R. Wickard, believed that by banning pre-sliced bread, the amount of bread consumption would also decrease, thus reducing the demand for flour and wheat. However, at the time of the ban, the U.S. had stockpiled over 1 billion bushels of wheat - which was enough to meet the United States’ need for about two years.</p> <figure> <img class="img img-responsive" src="https://res.cloudinary.com/deufhuujk/image/upload/c_scale,w_210/v1472856802/breadban2_gnn7n1.jpg" alt="A clipping from a News Paper" style="align-center"> <figcaption>January 18, 1943</figcaption> </figure> <p>Finally, the bread-slicing machine’s large size required steel to be used in their production. It was thought that by banning sliced bread, it would conserve metal because new machines wouldn’t have to be built. This reasoning also fell short, because most businesses weren’t buying new machines often enough to make a significant impact on the steel industry.</p><p>In addition, the ban on sliced bread didn’t go over well with consumers either. In a <i>New York Times - Letter to the Editor</i>, one woman stated her opinion on the matter:</p> <blockquote cite="https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9507E4D7163DE13BBC4E51DFB7668388659EDE&legacy=true"> <p>“I should like to let you see how important sliced bread is to the morale and saneness of a household. My husband and four children are all in a rush before, during and after breakfast. Without ready-sliced bread I must do the slicing for toast — two pieces for each one — that’s ten.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>They look less appetizing than the baker’s neat, even pieces. Haven’t the bakers already their bread-slicing machines and for thousands of loaves? I should have to pay $7.95 for one, and I cannot afford even a good sharp knife.</p> Sue Forrester <br> Fairfield, Conn.” </blockquote> </div> <i class="fa fa-angle-double-right"></i><h4>Learn More</h4> <div class="content-block"> <p align="center">To learn more about Otto Frederick Rohwedder's life and legacy, check out the resource below!</p> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Frederick_Rohwedder" class="btn btn-default">Wikiedia: Otto Frederick Rohwedder</a> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div>

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