Best thing since sliced bread

To slice or not to slice

BY  Bill Miller for the Mail Tribune February 18, 2019

That Snoopin’ story about the 1942 Christmas party held at Camp White during WWII (Dec. 24,

2018) sure caught the attention of some of our eagle-eyed readers. You history Snoops are always good for another story.

In telling of the difficulties facing the homefront during the war, I briefly mentioned the government

was in the process of banning sliced bread. Well, that brought a number of curious questions, best summarized as the incredulous, “What?” or the curious, “Why?”

Commercial slicing of bread was new. It had only started in the late 1920s.

Those of us who didn’t live through the rationing of WWII have no idea how it felt or how complicated it could be, and bread is only a small slice of the story.

A year after the Pearl Harbor attack, the government was already rationing a number of items in the interest of winning the war — everything from nylon stockings to sugar, gas and automobile tires. On Dec. 24, 1942, the bread rumors were officially confirmed — no more sliced bread after Jan. 18!
At first, most patriotic Americans took the latest decree in stride. “Remind dad to sharpen the kitchen knives,” joked one reporter. But then, the complaints from bakers and others began, and soon, a whole lot of folks

Commercial slicing of bread began in the late 1920s

wanted to know how not slicing bread could possibly help defeat the Germans and Japanese.

The government tried to respond. “The main issue,” said a spokesman, “is not the slicing equipment, but the fact that the heavy wax paper used to wrap the sliced bread is too thick and contains chemicals necessary to the war effort.” He said the thicker paper was needed to keep sliced bread from drying out.

In addition, the spokesman accused bakeries of overstocking grocery shelves with bread, leading to tons of bread going stale each year and wasting the food supply.

When some hinted that complainers were lazy and unpatriotic, an angry editor went to press.

“If necessary,” he wrote, “the patriots will bake it themselves, or do without it entirely. But they do not believe in doing unnecessary things simply because someone somewhere had a brainstorm. Government orders that don’t make sense cease to be government and become tomfoolery.”

In compliance with the government’s order, the Medford-based Fluhrer Bakery introduced its “Finer Wartime Energy Bread — EASY TO SLICE!” Their advertisements even demonstrated the “safe way” to slice your own bread.

Safety was important, because many consumers were suffering accidental finger cuts while learning how to hold down a full loaf and, at the same time, evenly slicing the morning toast.
One of the strongest arguments against the ban was the lack of bread knives in most kitchens. Buying more knives meant more steel diverted from the war effort.

It took less than three months for the government to give up and lift the ban. The secretary of agriculture explained “the disadvantages of the order outweigh the advantages.”

“I’ve never really appreciated ready-sliced bread until now,” said the happy homemaker in the Fluhrer ad.

Arthur Perry, the Mail Tribune’s jokester in chief, celebrated in his “Ye Smudge Pot” column.
“Now, the masses and the classes will have naught to do but eat it. The new butcher knife the breadwinner bought for the little woman will now be used to dig up gladioli bulbs for replanting. The thumb that failed to get out of the road in time is healed and also happy.”

All was still not right with the world, but at least there couldn’t be anything better than already-sliced bread.

Writer Bill Miller is the author of “History Snoopin’,” a collection of his previous history columns and stories. Reach him at newsmiller@live.com or WilliamMMiller.com.
 
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