[Ads-l] greatest thing since sliced bread (1951)

[Baker, John]

According to Wikipedia, commercial use of sliced bread was introduced in 1928, with the first slices sold on July 7 (hence the National Sliced Bread Day referenced below, no doubt).  The (Chillicothe, Mo.) Constitution-Tribune had an article on July 6, 1928 (Newspapers.com) about the introduction of sliced bread by the Chillicothe Baking Company, as well as an internal advertisement introducing the new product, which described it as "the greatest forward step in the baking industry since bread was wrapped."  

There was a short-lived ban on sliced bread in 1943, intended as a wartime conservation effort to save waxed paper.  Wikipedia quotes a housewife who wrote:

"I should like to let you know how important sliced bread is to the morale and saneness of a household. My husband and four children are all in a rush during and after breakfast. Without ready-sliced bread I must do the slicing for toast—two pieces for each one—that's ten. 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!"


John Baker



-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Jonathan Lighter
Sent: Thursday, May 4, 2017 8:22 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: greatest thing since sliced bread (1951)

What was the greatest thing *before* sliced bread?

Regular bread?

JL

On Wed, May 3, 2017 at 9:56 PM, W Brewer <brewerwa at gmail.com> wrote:

>      And so, the ultimate question is, when was the marketing of sliced
> bread loaves introduced? And what's the big deal about sliced bread? Great
> inventions in history should rather be measured by comparison with the
> electric pop-up toaster, quod laetificavit juventutem meam.
>      Anyway, Otto Rohwedder, Gustav Papendick, W.E. Long: legendary
> bread-slicing pioneers, without whom I could never have grown up on Wonder
> Bread.
>      July 7  (1928):  "National Sliced Bread Day"?!?
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org