Otto Frederick Rohwedder was born in Des Moines in 1880. He
was apprenticed to a jeweler to learn a trade. At one point, Otto owned three
jewelry stores in St. Joseph, Missouri. The experience he gained repairing
watches led Otto to inventing machinery. He was convinced he could design a
machine that would convert fresh loaves of bread into uniform slices. Otto sold
off his jewelry stores to fund this project, but a fire in 1917 destroyed his
prototype and blueprints. It took Otto years to come up with the cash to start
over. In 1927, he successfully created a machine that not only sliced bread,
but wrapped it. In 1930 Continental Baking Company introduced Wonder Bread, sliced
and wrapped by Otto’s machines. Within five years, 80% of all bread sold in the
US was pre-sliced. This, in turn, boosted sales of the newly-invented automatic
toaster. It’s true what they say: a rising tide lifts all boats.
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