Hello and welcome to the very first edition of Funny but True! My name is Random Writer and I am here to bring you the reader the series that I have long promised, Funny but True. Yes, It has been a long time coming, however, it is finally here!
Before we jump headlong into this, let me first explain to the those who do not know. “Funny but True” has changed a little bit from when I first envisioned it. Originally it was going to be all about was to “propose an unpopular or ridiculous claim and through supporting evidence that was well-researched, prove that once unpopular or ridiculous be true”.*¹
Now that is still sorta true. however, Funny but True will now encompass a broader spectrum of topics. As you will soon read. The series will also take on a more literal meaning.
So with that being said, I bring to you the first edition of “Funny but True”.
Have you every thought, “Why is Sliced bread the greatest”? Some how that very question came up in a conversation I was having with a good friend of mine. I was having a rather boring day and I also needed a break. So to the surprise of my friend, I looked up the answer on the internet.
According to an article published on time.com on July 7, 2015 (that date will be important later) sliced bread was sold in pre-sliced form in Chillicothe, Mo.on July 7, 1928(see the connection).*² Otto Frederick Rohwedder was the man responsible for this. Rohwedder invented the world’s first automated bread slicing machine less than 90 years ago. Even though advertisers claimed that it was the best thing since wrapped bread. Customers did not make the bread fly off the shelves because of its “sloppy looking” appearance and its inability to stay fresh as long as its whole counterpart.
Rohwedder recognized the problem and introduced the use of U-shaped pins to give the appearance of a unaltered loaf of bread. This caused some people to be scared out of their minds. Mainly because it was “from the usual manner of supplying the consumer with baked loaves”.
After a few improvements to the automated bread-slicing machines. pre-sliced bread started to look a lot more aesthetically pleasing. The country soon fell in love with sliced bread. When World II came to be, Americans were so consumed with their love for slice bread because of its convenience. That once it was banned due to a wartime conversation effort of hundreds of tons of metal, the country went into a frenzy. This provoked an irate response on the same level as gas rationing. The ban of automated bread-slicing machine was an enormous deal. Men, Women and children were bound together in their protest against the ban.
According to the Time’s 1943 account,
“U.S. housewives… vainly searched for grandmother’s serrated bread knife, routed sleepy husbands out of bed, held dawn conferences over bakery handouts which read like a golf lesson: “Keep your head down. Keep your eye on the loaf. And don’t bear down.” Then came grief, cussing, lopsided slices which even the toaster refused, often a mad dash to the corner bakery for rolls”.*³
The negative response to the ban was so great that within two months, the ban had to be lifted. That is how much Americans like their sliced bread.
Not to long after Americans started to use sliced bread as standard for greatness.
References:
*¹:Writer, Random. “Welcome (formally) to My Blog.” Randomwritings2016. WordPress.com, 09 Jan. 2016. Web. 16 Apr. 2016. https://randomwritings2016.wordpress.com/2016/01/10/welcome-formally-to-my-blog/
*²: Latson, Jennifer. “How Sliced Bread Became the ‘Greatest Thing'” Time. Time, 7 July 2015. Web. 16 Apr. 2016. http://time.com/3946461/sliced-bread-history/
*³: “U.S. At War: Trouble on the Bread Line.” Time. Time Inc., 01 Feb. 1943. Web. 16 Apr. 2016. http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,790722,00.html
Published on April 16, 2016, by Random Writer
Random Writings 
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