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Otto Frederick Rohwedder

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Inventor

The Resume

    (July 7, 1880-November 8, 1960)
    Born in Des Moines, Iowa
    Former ophthalmologist and jeweler
    Invented the automatic bread-slicing machine (1927)
    First used commercially by the Chillicothe Baking Company of Missouri (1928)
    Sliced bread first sold nationally by Wonder (1930)

Why he might be annoying:

    It took him fifteen years to invent the machine (1912-27).
    The main problem was not slicing the bread as much as keeping it from going stale too fast.
    Early attempts at holding the sliced loaves together with pins or rubber bands failed.
    He had to sell his patent during the Depression, losing out on the future royalties.
    Turns out, calling something 'the greatest thing since sliced bread' means 'the greatest thing since 1928,' which does not sound nearly so impressive.

Why he might not be annoying:

    Part of the reason it took fifteen years to invent the machine is that an early prototype and his blueprints were destroyed in a factory fire (1917).
    He eventually built a machine that not only sliced the bread but wrapped it as well.
    Within five years, pre-sliced bread had captured 80% of the market (1933).
    Sliced bread was so popular that when the government tried to ban it during World War II, the feds backed down after only two months (January-March, 1943).
    His second slicer is housed at the Smithsonian Institute.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 7 Votes: 28.57% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 7 Votes: 71.43% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 19 Votes: 47.37% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 12 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 11 Votes: 27.27% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 29 Votes: 48.28% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 90 Votes: 37.78% Annoying