Otto Frederick
Rohwedder

Possibly the most common innovation referenced, you guessed it—sliced bread. Meet Otto Frederick Rohwedder, the Inventor of the automatic bread slicer designed for commercial use.  

After graduating high school, Otto became a jeweler's apprentice before attending college where he studied optometry at what is now the Illinois College of Optometry, where he received a degree in optics in 1900. Tinkering is both an innovators passion and teacher, after college he chose to return to his work as a jeweler and came to own three jewelry stores. He chose to work on watches to fine tune his skills to build other intricate machines.  

And he did.   

In 1927 Rohwedder successfully designed a machine that not only sliced the bread but wrapped it. He sold his machines to local bakeries, and the first loaf of sliced bread was sold on July 7, 1928. Some might call it “the greatest day.” The day that would start the coining of a pop culture reference that is still alive in modern times.  

It’s a Wonder. 

In 1930, Rohwedder sold his patent rights to Micro-Westo Co. and joined the company as vice-president and sales manager of the Rohwedder Bakery Machine Division. 

That same year, the Continental Baking Company introduced Wonder Bread as a sliced bread. This innovation was quickly copied by other major bakeries across the country as sliced bread fulfilled a convenience need in America. Wonder Bread was the first fortified (and sliced) bread on the market and would become a household name and iconic brand that still stands today.  

Rohwedder worked at Micro-Westo Co. until his retirement in 1951 at the age of 71. His original sliced bread machine is on display at the Smithsonian Museum. Now we know who to tip our caps to anytime we utter the phrase, “It’s the greatest thing since sliced bread.”

SOURCES

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Frederick_Rohwedder