Otto Frederick Rohwedder (July 7, 1880 – November 8, 1960) was an American inventor and engineer who created the first automatic
bread-slicing machine for commercial use. It was first used by the Chillicothe Baking Company.
Early life and education
Rohwedder was born in
Davenport, Iowa
Davenport is a city in and the county seat of Scott County, Iowa, United States. Located along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state, it is the largest of the Quad Cities, a metropolitan area with a population of 384,324 and a ...
, in 1880, the son of Claus and Margaret Rohwedder, of
ethnic
An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
descent. He was the second youngest of four brothers and a sister.
Rohwedder and his family lived in
Davenport, where he attended
Davenport public schools. He then became an
apprentice
Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...
to a jeweler to learn a trade.
Rohwedder also studied
optometry
Optometry is a specialized health care profession that involves examining the eyes and related structures for defects or abnormalities. Optometrists are health care professionals who typically provide comprehensive primary eye care.
In the Uni ...
, graduating in 1900 with a degree in
optics
Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultraviole ...
from what is now the
Illinois College of Optometry
The Illinois College of Optometry (ICO) is a private optometry college in Chicago, Illinois. Graduating approximately 160 optometrists a year, it is the largest optometry college in the United States and the oldest continually operating educati ...
in Chicago. He became a jeweler.
Marriage and family
Rohwedder married Carrie Johnson in 1905. They settled in
St. Francisville, Louisiana, and had two children, Margaret and Richard.
["Bread Slicer"](_blank)
, Ideafinder, accessed 23 Dec 2009
Career
Rohwedder first had a brief career as a jeweler, and became the owner of three jewelry stores in St. Joseph. He used his work with watches and jewelry to invent new machines. Convinced he could develop a bread slicing machine, he sold his jewelry stores to fund the development effort and manufacture the machines.
In 1917 a fire broke out at the factory where Rohwedder was manufacturing his machine. It destroyed his prototype and blueprints. With the need to get funding again, Rohwedder was delayed for several years in bringing the bread slicer to market.
In 1927 Rohwedder successfully designed a machine that not only sliced the bread but wrapped it. He applied for patents to protect his invention and sold the first machine to a friend and baker Frank Bench, who installed it at the Chillicothe Baking Company, in
Chillicothe, Missouri
Chillicothe is a city in the state of Missouri and the county seat of Livingston County, Missouri, United States. The population was 9,107 at the 2020 census. The name "Chillicothe" is Shawnee for "big town", and was named after their ''Chillico ...
, in 1928. The first loaf of sliced bread was sold commercially on July 7, 1928. Sales of the machine to other bakeries increased and sliced bread became available across the country.
Gustav Papendick, a baker in
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...
, bought Rohwedder's second machine and found he could improve on it. He developed a better way to have the machine wrap and keep bread fresh. He also applied for patents for his concepts.
In 1930
Continental Baking Company
The Continental Baking Company was one of the first bakeries to introduce fortified bread. It was the maker of the Twinkie and Wonder Bread. Through a series of acquisitions and mergers it became part of the former Hostess Brands company.
His ...
introduced
Wonder Bread
Wonder Bread is a brand of sliced bread which originated in the United States in 1921 and was one of the first to be sold pre-sliced nationwide in 1930. The brand is currently owned by Flowers Foods in the United States.
History
The Taggart Bak ...
as a sliced bread. It was followed by other major companies when they saw how the bread was received. By 1932 the availability of standardized slices had boosted sales of automatic, pop-up
toaster
A toaster is a small electric appliance that uses radiant heat to brown sliced bread into toast.
Types
Pop-up toaster
In pop-up or automatic toasters, a single vertical piece of bread is dropped into a slot on the top of the toaster. ...
s, an invention of 1926 by
Charles Strite. In 1933 American bakeries for the first time produced more sliced than unsliced bread loaves.
That same year Rohwedder sold his patent rights to the Micro-Westco Co. of
Bettendorf, Iowa
Bettendorf is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States. It is the 15th largest city of Iowa and the third-largest city in the "Quad Cities". It is part of the Davenport– Moline– Rock Island, IA- IL Metropolitan Statistical Area. The popu ...
, and joined the company. He became vice-president and sales manager of the Rohwedder Bakery Machine Division.
In 1951, Rohwedder, at age 71, retired from Micro-Westco Co. and moved with his wife Carrie to
Albion, Michigan
Albion is a city in Calhoun County in the south central region of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 8,616 at the 2010 census and is part of the Battle Creek Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The earliest English-s ...
, where their daughter Margaret (Rohwedder) Steinhauer and his sister Elizabeth Pickerill lived. Rohwedder died in
Concord, Michigan
Concord is a village in Jackson County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,050 at the 2010 census. The village is within Concord Township.
Settled in 1831, much of the village's downtown area is designated as part of the Con ...
, on November 8, 1960. He was buried at Riverside Cemetery in Albion.
Honors and legacy
* Rohwedder had seven patents approved from 1927-1936 having to do with bread slicing and handling.
* His original bread-slicing machine is in the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
in Washington, DC.
References
"The best thing since sliced bread?" ''Mercury News'', Retrieved on July 6, 2007.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rohwedder, Otto Frederick
1880 births
1960 deaths
American jewellers
People from Davenport, Iowa
Businesspeople from Des Moines, Iowa
American food industry businesspeople
American people of German descent
20th-century American inventors
20th-century American businesspeople