On this day in history, July 7, 1928, the first pre-sliced bread first went on sale using a machine designed by Otto Rohwedder.

The need for pre-sliced bread came as more Americans were on the go. By 1920, more than half of Americans lived in cities[1]  and millions of Americans were driving cars [2]. The pace of life had drastically accelerated for many Americans and Otto Rohwedder’s machine made a way for sandwiches and toast to be made quickly and efficiently. Prior to the 1920s, the majority of homes made their own bread or bought it from a local store. By the 1940s and 1950s, bread-making would become increasingly industrialized and contained preservatives to keep the pre-sliced bread “fresh.” 

Pre-sliced bread is dramatically inferior in quality, nutritional value, and flavor to freshly-baked, unsliced, bread. I wonder how Americans’ association with bread affects our spiritual relationship with God and His Church, in which bread plays an important role.

Before pondering that connection, let us look at the importance of bread throughout the Bible. 

For forty years in the wilderness after leaving Egypt, God provided manna, the bread that the Israelites were to eat, for forty years (Ex. 16:15). The Book of Leviticus documents how God instructed that bread of the Presence was to be put on a table in the tabernacle for Aaron and his sons to eat on the Sabbath (Lev. 24:5-7). Jesus taught His disciples about Himself declaring, “‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry’” (John 6:35) and on the first night of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread, Jesus broke bread with His disciples and said, “‘Take and eat; this is my body’” (Mat. 26:26). And since that Last Supper, Christ-followers have partaken of bread and wine (or its representation) when they gather, as Christ commanded them to do. 

Since bread plays such an important role in knowing and communing with Jesus and His people, I am afraid Americans’ negative association with industrialized bread has diminished the view of what bread was designed to be: a daily staple that is fulfilling, satisfying, pleasurable, and meant to be shared. Jesus’ metaphor to Himself was meant to connote the good experiences of bread. No offense to Otto Rohwedder, but I believe that his pre-sliced machine has crumbled Americans’ experience of bread and perhaps even of the “Bread of Life” (John 6:35). Just food for thought. 

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[1] U.S. Census Bureau. “Urban and Rural Areas.” U.S. Department of Commerce. Accessed July 6, 2024. https://www.census.gov/history/www/programs/geography/urban_and_rural_areas.html.

[2]  BBC Bitesize. “Fair Testing.” Accessed July 6, 2024. https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zsggdxs/revision/3