A Slice of Bread

Americans will give up a lot in times of war but don't touch their bread. For a few brief months in 1943 there was a ban on sliced bread. Yes, you read that right. Let’s just say, things did not go well.

Transcript:

In the nearly one hundred years since its invention, there have been quite a few things claiming to be “the greatest thing since”, but how many of them have actually measured up to the original? To be such a benchmark for human innovation that everything after is compared to it, is quite the distinction. And I must say, I do appreciate the massive convenience of having pre-sliced bread as a staple in my life. For anyone running a household or having to prepare breakfasts and lunches, being able to purchase bread pre-cut is a wonderful time saver. But there was a time when this revolutionary bakery innovation was not appreciated as it is today. 

First invented in 1912 by Otto Rohwedder, his blueprint for the machine was lost in a fire just five years later. And it could have ended there. But the machine was reinvented, again by Otto Rohwedder, in 1927 and it soon took its first step on its journey to stardom. 

For a while though bakers were reluctant to use the slicer. They weren’t sure customers would want bread pre-sliced and were concerned with the shorter shelf life the resulting product had. But the convenience was too good to pass up and sales soon skyrocketed. Families were soon consuming more bread than ever before. Bakeries around the country were selling more and more of the pre-sliced loaves. Big companies wanted in on the action too and began massive production of the revolutionary product. One brand soared high above the rest. I wonder if you can guess which one. 

All was well and good until war broke out in Europe in 1942. As the United States did during the first world war, they again had to make an effort to conserve resources for the military. Rubber was the first to go. With trade and imports limited, rubber for use in tires and other goods had to be rationed. The sale of new automobiles to the general public was also restricted to support this effort. Gasoline was rationed as well, not just for the fuel itself but to also limit driving and make the rubber in the tires last longer.

Soon after other consumer goods and products began being rationed. People were given special ration books and had to use the stamps to purchase certain items. Sugar was the first but others quickly joined it, like meat, cheese and butter. The thought being that in order to win the war the soldiers needed food and supplies. 

Production of many large, metal based appliances were halted. From washers and dryers, to televisions and radios, vacuums and refrigerators. Tin, used for cans as well as toothpaste tubes at the time, and nylon for stockings were also rationed. So many other household goods were sacrificed as well; like fats and oils, jellies and jams, firewood and coal, processed foods and dried fruits. All of these had to be conserved for the war effort.

And in general the public was happy to give a little if it meant keeping their freedom. It was considered patriotic to do your part by either giving up certain goods or limiting how much you consumed of them. A vast campaign was put on to educate and inform the public on what they could do at home to support the war effort overseas. And it seemed Americans were willing to do just about anything to help win this war. 

Well… almost.

Claude Wickard who was the Secretary of Agriculture as well as the head of the War Foods Administration, decided more needed to be done. There was a concern over the stockpiles of wax paper, wheat, and steel. And where did all the products align? The production of pre-sliced bread. The machines to cut the bread used large amounts of steel. The increase in sales meant more wheat was used to make more bread. And more wax paper had to be used to keep sliced bread fresher longer. It only made sense that for the time being pre-sliced bread had to go.

So on January 18th of 1943 pre-sliced bread was officially banned in the United States. The result? Let’s just say it didn’t go over very well. 

The outcry was fast and swift. The sudden ban threw bakers through a loop. Some bakeries refused to stop slicing and selling the bread people had come to know and love. But they were hit with heavy fines and soon fell in line. A New York area representative for the Food and Drug Administration pleaded with Bakers to stop selling pre-sliced bread as it was unfair to their competitors who were obeying the law. 

Then people started looking into the reasoning behind the ban, and it didn’t make sense. Bakeries were said to have adequate supplies of wax paper to last for months. They also were not in the business of constantly purchasing new slicers, so the usage of steel was not really an issue. It was also found out that the US had a massive stockpile of wheat, again negating their call for needed conservation. Meanwhile bread sales dropped nationwide as wifes and mothers were forced to dust off their long forgotten bread knives.

The ban was viewed so negatively that no one in the government wanted to take the credit or the responsibility for it. Eventually people did learn that Claude Wickard was the one to blame and the angry letters started to pour in. The disruption to homelife was more than some could bear. One woman was quoted by the New York Times as saying, for herself, her husband, and their four children the demand for bread was too high to go back to self slicing. She had to make ten slices of toast for breakfast and then for lunch two sandwiches for each, another twenty slices. And that was before feeding herself. She wanted to make known the importance sliced bread had to her morale and saneness. 

It was a feeling shared by many housewives of the day. The miracle of sliced bread, while it may seem like a hyperbole today, back then it really became vital for many households. And to have that taken away, for what seemed to be less than sufficient reasoning, did not sit well. 

By March the message had been heard loud and clear and on the 8th of that month the ban was lifted. Claude Wickard never acknowledged the public outcry as the reasoning for the removal of the ban during the hasty retreat. Instead he claimed that after less than three months, the agency had deemed the savings from the order were not as much as they had expected. Essentially saying the costs outweigh the rewards. 

So while many of the other rations and restrictions remained in place, the sale of pre-sliced bread was returned. Many of the rationing measures stuck around for the remainder of the war and ended in 1945. The rationing of sugar was the last program to be discontinued and it wasn’t until two years after the fighting stopped, in 1947. 

In order to do their patriotic duty American’s were willing to give up so much. But for everyone eventually there is a line in the sand. A point that they are, for one reason or another, unwilling to cross. Something they refuse to do or give up. For Americans, in 1943, as the war raged in Europe, they found that line. As a major victory was won by the Russians over the Nazis at Stalingrad. As progress was made by US forces on the retreating Germans in North Africa. As soldiers from countries around the world fought for not just their lives but the apparent livelihood and freedom of their people, America was also fighting a war on another front. 

Patrick Henry once famously said, in 1775 at the second Virginia Convention, on the eve of a revolution, a phrase so tied to the coming war for independence, “Give me liberty or give me death”. I can’t help but imagine the outcry of those in the winter of 1943 being just as impassioned. They would support the troops, plant victory gardens, give up such much and so many conveniences. But if you came for THE greatest invention of that time. The greatest thing which all other innovations would be measured against. If you came to take their sliced bread, you better be ready to fight. 

Today’s episode was written by me, Cory Greiner. Keepsake is produced and edited by Alex Hoelscher. If you have an idea you’d like us to explore on the show, send us an email at keepsakepod@gmail.com. 

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And finally, next episode’s item, A Bird Cage.

This has been Keepsake. Thanks for listening.