4/23/13
How the Phrase 'The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread' Originated - Art Molella - The Atlantic
Is Your City
Hurting Your
Social Life?
Politics
Business
Special Reports
Video
Tech
Photo
Entertainment
Ebook
Newsletters
Health
Sexes
National
'Don't Think of
Ugly People':
Obsolete
Parenting
Advice
Global
China
ART MOLELLA FEB 8 2012, 2:03 PM ET
Like
100
Tw eet
7
More
SPONSOR CONTENT
Enabling Better
Decisions in
Health Care
Magazine
NASA Released a Magical 3-Year Timelapse of Our Sun, and We Set It to Dubstep for You
How the Phrase 'The Best Thing Since
Sliced Bread' Originated
37
Manhunts Are
the New Car
Chases
Who hasn't heard the phrase, "the best thing
since sliced bread?" Bread is one of our oldest
and most basic sources of nourishment ... and
just the mention of it brings back vivid
childhood memories of visiting my cousins, the
Di Rienzos, at their bakery in Binghamton, New
York. I looked forward to the times I could ride
with them on their truck as they delivered
loaves of fresh Italian bread and rolls to shops
and schools in their area. The pre-dawn aroma
of fresh baked bread remains with me to this
day. We must have delivered hundreds of
loaves each day, and I always wondered how a
middling-sized bakery could turn out so much
bread. The answer of course lies in
mechanization.
The making of bread is one of the oldest food technologies, going as far back as
the Neolithic era, coeval and linked with the brewing of beer. It was also one of
the first food products to succumb to automatic machinery, from the mass
production and bleaching of flour, kneading of the dough, baking in continuous
ovens, and, finally, to the slicing and wrapping of the bread. Much of the
mechanization derived from Europe in the 19th century but peaked in the
American Midwest during the 1920s and 1930s.
Bread-making technology spawned many inventions and patents, like the breadslicer. While the earliest bread-cutting devices using parallel blades appeared in
America in the 1860s, they sat on the shelf for decades, awaiting the introduction
of other machines capable of producing loaves of uniform shape, size, and
consistency.
The first effective bread-slicing machine was invented by Iowa-born Otto
Frederick Rohwedder and put into service in 1928 by the Chillicothe (Missouri)
Baking Company (the local paper ran a front page story on it). By the 1930s, presliced bread was fully commercialized, and standardization was reinforced by
other inventions that required uniform slices, such as toasters. The common
phrase, "the best thing since sliced bread," as a way of hyping a new product or
invention may have come into use based on an advertising slogan for Wonder
Bread, the first commercial manufacturer of pre-wrapped, pre-sliced bread.
With such products rapidly penetrating the American home, automated breadmaking was not only an invention benchmark, but also a key indicator of the
mechanization of daily life from the 1930s onward.
V I DEO
America's
Original
Flaming
Cocktail
Make the 'Blue Blazer'
WRITERS
Rebecca J. Rosen
NASA Released a Magical 3-Year Timelapse
of Our Sun, and We Set It to Dubstep for You
5:58 PM ET
Olga Khazan
How Toronto's Muslim Community Uncovered
the Would-Be Train Bombers 4:30 PM ET
Derek Thompson
Obama's Budget Would Lead to the Highest
Federal Tax Rate in 4 Decades 4:06 PM ET
Alexis C. Madrigal
Peek In on Our Strange, Wonderful World
With a New Archival Video App 3:59 PM ET
Andrew Cohen
Executing the Mentally Handicapped Is Illegal
—Except When It Isn't 3:30 PM ET
James Hamblin
The Most Stressful Places to Live 3:13 PM ET
Ta-Nehisi Coates
www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/02/how-the-phrase-the-best-thing-since-sliced-bread-originated/252674/
1/4
4/23/13
How the Phrase 'The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread' Originated - Art Molella - The Atlantic
Machine-made bread eventually became
almost wholly artificial, bearing little
resemblance to the look, feel, and taste of the
hand-made variety -- so much so that
manufacturers felt compelled to inject it with
artificial vitamins to restore food value. And the
soft, sponge-like, and very white "bread" found
some unexpected applications. For instance,
while bread had been used since the 17th
century to clean the frescoes on the ceiling of
the Sistine Chapel, Wonder Bread proved to be
an especially effective sponge in the most
recent restoration of Michelangelo's
masterpiece.
With things going so far, it is no surprise that
the back-to-nature whole foods movement chose to celebrate bread made in the
way of earlier generations. People reverted to making their own bread at home,
initially kneading and baking by hand, producing loaves of hearty consistency. By
the late 1970s, however, machines began to appear in American homes, and all
you had to do was toss in the ingredients and, within a few hours, out would pop
a perfect loaf, barely touched by human hands.
Though I confess I never tried bread from one of those home machines, I'm sure
it tasted good. It also helped ease the craving for something homemade for
people with increasingly busy lives. Even as we seek a new balance in our foodways, mechanized food, I am sure, will always be with us.
Images: 1 . The author's friends/Jerry Eisterhold; 2. A page from a 1 937
Don Draper's Dead End 1:22 PM ET
David A. Graham
Max Baucus' Retirement Is Liberals' First
Post-Gun-Control Litmus Test 11:43 AM ET
Matt Schiavenza
In China, Even Earthquakes Are Political
10:56 AM ET
More in Health
Megan Garber
We Have Ourselves a Groomzilla 10:41 AM ET
The Most Stressful
States
JAMES HAMBLIN
Conor Friedersdorf
Was the Marathon Bombing Terrorism? A
Defense of Agnostics 7:30 AM ET
How Deadly Is a
Spoonful
of
Matthew
O'Brien
Cinnamon?
Who Is Defending
Austerity Now?
JAMES
HAMBLIN
APR 22,
2013
Jordan Weissmann
How the DEA Finally
Yes, It's Time for an
InternetKermit
Sales Tax
Caught
APR 22,
2013
Gosnell
JEFF DEENEY
Eleanor Barkhorn
Young Man Comes of Age by Learning to
Ogle Women APR 22, 2013
James Fallows
cookbook/Smithsonian Institution.
Not About Chechens: 'Future of U.S. Space
Policy' APR 20, 2013
This post also appears on the Smithsonian's O Say Can You See? blog, an
Atlantic partner site.
Spencer Kornhaber
The Empty Thrill of 'Oblivion' APR 20, 2013
1
37
Recommend
Garance Franke-Ruta
Jump to comments
Uncle Ruslan Speaks (Video) APR 19, 2013
100
Tw eet
7
7
Share
subm it
reddit
Sichuan Earthquake Recovery
Email
Heather Horn
Print
The World Watches the Siege in Boston
APR 19, 2013
Most Popular
ART MOLELLA is Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Director of the Lemelson Center for the Study
of Invention and Innovation at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History.
Kasia Cieplak-Mayr von
Baldegg
Would Lead to the Highest
1 Obama's Budget
Make
Your
... in New York City
Federal
TaxOwn
RateWine
in 4 Decades
ALL POSTS
APR 17, 2013
2 Who Is Defending Austerity Now?
Aren't
Radical Anymore
3 American Girls
J.J.
Gould
Patton Oswalt on the Boston Marathon
Bombing APR 15, 2013
Uncovered the Would-Be Train Bombers
4 How Toronto's Muslim Community
5 Relationships Are More Important Than
More Video
Ambition Christopher Orr
Danny Boyle's Trance Offers a Woozy Ride
or 12,
Just2013
a Repackaged Press
6 Is It Journalism,
APR
Release? Here's a Tool to Help You Find Out
Kermit Gosnell's
Trial Should Be a
7 Why Dr.Jeffrey
Goldberg
Front-Page
Story
Is
This the End
of Goldblog? APR 10, 2013
8 Bush Is Back! (At Least Sorta, Kinda,
Reluctantly)
Zvika Krieger
Forget Marriage Equality; Israeli Gays Want
www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/02/how-the-phrase-the-best-thing-since-sliced-bread-originated/252674/
2/4
4/23/13
How the Phrase 'The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread' Originated - Art Molella - The Atlantic
9 The Wendell Berry Sentence That Inspired
The Power of Gear
Michael Pollan's Food Obsession
GEOFF MANAUGH & NICOLA TWILLEY
APR 22, 2013
10 There Are Almost No Chechens in the United
States—Here's Why
The Sentence That Inspired
Michael Pollan's Food
Obsession
JOE FASSLER
10:40 AM ET
NASA Released a Magical Timelapse of 3 Years of
Solar Beauty, and We Set It to Dubstep for You
American Girls Aren't Radical
Anymore
AMY SCHILLER
Just In
9:17 AM ET
How Toronto's Muslim Community
Uncovered the Would-Be Train Bombers
NASA Released a Magical 3-Year
Timelapse of Our Sun, and We Set
It to Dubstep for You
REBECCA J. ROSEN
Apple's Incredible Shrinking Profit
Growth—in 1 Graph
Is It Journalism, or Just a
Repackaged Press Release?
REBECCA J. ROSEN
10:01 AM ET
Elsewhere on the web (Sponsored Links)
MATT PHILLIPS
The Unhealthiest "Healthy" Foods (STACK)
How Much Should You Really Weigh? (My Daily Moment)
Barefaced Beauty - Keira Knightley Without Makeup (Sty leBistro)
Gone in 30 Minutes (Muscle & Fitness)
Boston Suspect Identified Visually by Officials
Week)
(Business
How Toronto's Muslim
Community Uncovered the
Would-Be Train Bombers
OLGA KHAZAN
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
After y ou comment, click Post. If y ou’re not already logged in y ou will be asked to log in or register.
www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/02/how-the-phrase-the-best-thing-since-sliced-bread-originated/252674/
3/4
4/23/13
How the Phrase 'The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread' Originated - Art Molella - The Atlantic
1 comment
0
Leave a message...
Best
Com m unity
MMcBri d e 4 3
•
Share
a year ago
Is it me or does bread you cut yourself taste better than sliced bread?
Mike
- http://bookclubreading.com/
0
•
Reply
•
Share ›
ALSO ON THE ATLANTIC
AROUND THE WEB
Who Is Defending Austerity Now?
241 comments
85-year-old bachelorette is looking for love:
Watch Burning Love now Yahoo
It's Very Condescending to Tell a Childless
Woman She'd Be a Great Mom 426 comments
Demi Moore, Julia Roberts: Fabulous
Looks After 40 eHow Style
After Boston: Don't Get Fooled Again by
the 'War on Terror' Hawks 379 comments
ViewSonic's 4K Monitor Could Outsell 4K
TVs Review ed
The Boston Bombers Were Muslim. It
Shouldn't Matter. This Is … 1561 comments
George Clooney's Mansion - How Does It
Compare to Others? Lonny
C o m m e n t fe e d
What's this?
Su b s cri b e vi a e m a i l
ATLANTIC MEDIA
No One Cares About Ryan Lochte
The New 'Bling Ring' Trailer Unveils
Emma Watson as the Anti-Hermione
Meditations on a 'Mad Men'
Emergency
More from Atlantic Wire
Expensive Cities Are Even Worse for
the Poor Than You Think
Everything You Need to Know About
Why Chicago Is Furious With Rachel
Shteir and The New York Times
How Surveillance Cameras and Civil
Liberties Can Coexist
Apple pins its China hopes on the
iPhone 4. Yes, the iPhone 4
China’s chickens are causing
problems for Yum Brands and KFC
China was the only region where
Apple’s revenue grew from previous
quarter
How Will Texas Explosion Impact
Chemical Security Laws?
How Pressure Cookers Get Classified
as a WMD
The White House Is Right: Tsarnaev
Should Be Tried As a Civilian
More from National Journal
More from Quartz
Behind the Longreads: Antonia
Crane on ‘Yellow,’ Our Latest
Member Pick | Longreads
How the Trailer Park Could Save Us
All | Pacific Standard
Inside America's Dirty Wars | The
Nation
More from Longreads
More from Atlantic Cities
FOLLOW THE ATLANTIC
App store
Facebook
Tw itter
Linkedin
Google Plus
E-NEWSLETTERS
INFORMATION
Today's Top Stories
FAQ
This Week
Subscribe Help
This Month
Masthead
New at In Focus
Store
Atlantic Cities
Merchandise
5 Best Columns
Jobs
SUBSCRIBE
FIRST NAME
LAST NAME
ADDRESS 1
ADDRESS 2
CITY
Privacy
Site Map
Tumblr
RSS
Terms and Conditions
Advertise
Advertising Guidelines
STATE
Get 10 issues a year
and save 65% off the
cover price
ZIP
EMAIL
Next ►
Press
Contact Us
Special Reports
Atlantic Scene
Ebook
Events
Atlantic Media Company
Copyright © 2013 by The Atlantic Monthly Group. All Rights Reserved. CDN powered by Edgecast Networks. Insights powered by Parsely .
www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/02/how-the-phrase-the-best-thing-since-sliced-bread-originated/252674/
4/4