Sliced Bread Is First Sold

Setting the scene

Otto Frederick Rohwedder, a Missouri jeweler turned inventor, spent years perfecting a machine that sliced loaves without crumbling them; bakeries resisted until Wonder Bread's parent company saw marketing potential in uniform slices for toasters and sandwiches.

What happened

Commercial sliced bread was first sold on July 7, 1928, at the Chillicothe Baking Company's Frank Bench store in Chillicothe, Missouri, using Rohwedder's automatic bread slicer.

Why it still matters

The phrase 'greatest thing since sliced bread' followed as Wonder Bread nationalized the innovation; sliced bread was briefly banned during World War II rationing of wax paper, provoking public outcry that revealed how thoroughly Americans depended on convenience.

Background

The phrase greatest thing since sliced bread followed.