Otto Frederick Rohwedder
Encyclopedia
Otto Frederick Rohwedder (July 7, 1880 – November 8, 1960) is 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 in Chillicothe, Missouri
in 1928.
in 1880, the son of Claus and Elizabeth Rohwedder, of ethnic German
descent. He was the youngest of three brothers
and a sister
.
When a child, Rohwedder and his family moved to Davenport
, where he lived until the age of 21. He attended Davenport public schools. Then he became an apprentice
to a jeweler to learn a trade.
Rohwedder also studied optometry
, graduating in 1900 with a degree
in optics
from what is now the Northern Illinois College of Ophthalmology and Otology
in Chicago
. He became a jeweler.
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
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
, 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
introduced Wonder Bread
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
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
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
, where their daughter Margaret (Rohwedder) Steinhauer and his sister Elizabeth Pickerill lived. Rohwedder died in Concord, Michigan
on November 8, 1960. He was buried at Riverside Cemetery in Albion.
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
who created the first automatic bread
Bread
Bread is a staple food prepared by cooking a dough of flour and water and often additional ingredients. Doughs are usually baked, but in some cuisines breads are steamed , fried , or baked on an unoiled frying pan . It may be leavened or unleavened...
-slicing machine
Machine
A machine manages power to accomplish a task, examples include, a mechanical system, a computing system, an electronic system, and a molecular machine. In common usage, the meaning is that of a device having parts that perform or assist in performing any type of work...
for commercial
Commerce
While business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any...
use. It was first used by the Chillicothe Baking Company in Chillicothe, Missouri
Chillicothe, Missouri
Chillicothe is a city in and the county seat of Livingston County, Missouri, United States. The population was 9,515 at the 2010 census. The name "Chillicothe" is Shawnee for "big town", and was named after their Chillicothe, located since 1774 about a mile from the present-day city.Chillicothe is...
in 1928.
Early life and education
Rohwedder was born in Des Moines, IowaDes Moines, Iowa
Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the US state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...
in 1880, the son of Claus and Elizabeth Rohwedder, of ethnic German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
descent. He was the youngest of three brothers
Sibling
Siblings are people who share at least one parent. A male sibling is called a brother; and a female sibling is called a sister. In most societies throughout the world, siblings usually grow up together and spend a good deal of their childhood socializing with one another...
and a sister
Sibling
Siblings are people who share at least one parent. A male sibling is called a brother; and a female sibling is called a sister. In most societies throughout the world, siblings usually grow up together and spend a good deal of their childhood socializing with one another...
.
When a child, Rohwedder and his family moved to Davenport
Davenport, Iowa
Davenport is a city located along the Mississippi River in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Davenport is the county seat of and largest city in Scott County. Davenport was founded on May 14, 1836 by Antoine LeClaire and was named for his friend, George Davenport, a colonel during the Black Hawk...
, where he lived until the age of 21. He attended Davenport public schools. Then he became an apprentice
Apprenticeship
Apprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a skill. Apprentices or protégés build their careers from apprenticeships...
to a jeweler to learn a trade.
Rohwedder also studied optometry
Optometry
Optometry is a health care profession concerned with eyes and related structures, as well as vision, visual systems, and vision information processing in humans. Optometrists, or Doctors of Optometry, are state licensed medical professionals trained to prescribe and fit lenses to improve vision,...
, graduating in 1900 with a degree
Academic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
in optics
Optics
Optics is the branch of physics which involves the behavior and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behavior of visible, ultraviolet, and infrared light...
from what is now the Northern Illinois College of Ophthalmology and Otology
Illinois College of Optometry
The Illinois College of Optometry is a 4-year private optometry college located in the city of Chicago, Illinois. Graduating approximately 160 optometrists a year, it is the largest optometry college in the United States and is the oldest continually operating educational facility dedicated solely...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. He became a jeweler.
Marriage and family
Rohwedder married Carrie Johnson in 1905. They settled in St. Joseph, Missouri and had two children.Career
Rohwedder first had a chief career as a jeweler, and became the owner of three jewelry stores in St. Joseph. His used his work with watches and jewelry to create inventions of 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
Plastic wrap
Plastic wrap, cling film , cling wrap or food wrap, is a thin plastic film typically used for sealing food items in containers to keep them fresh over a longer period of time...
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, Missouri
Chillicothe is a city in and the county seat of Livingston County, Missouri, United States. The population was 9,515 at the 2010 census. The name "Chillicothe" is Shawnee for "big town", and was named after their Chillicothe, located since 1774 about a mile from the present-day city.Chillicothe is...
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, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, 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
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 Hostess Brands.-History:...
introduced Wonder Bread
Wonder Bread
Wonder Bread is the name of three North American brands of white bread: One produced by George Weston Bakeries in Canada, another by Hostess Brands in the United States, and the third by Grupo Bimbo in Mexico.- United States :...
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
Toaster
The toaster is typically a small electric kitchen appliance designed to toast multiple types of bread products. A typical modern two-slice toaster draws anywhere between 600 and 1200 W and makes toast in 1 to 3 minutes...
s, an invention of 1926 by Charles Strite
Charles Strite
Charles P. Strite was an American inventor.Strite was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He received U.S. patent #1,394,450 on October 18, 1921 for the pop-up bread toaster.- External links :*...
. 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, Iowa
Bettendorf is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Bettendorf is the fifteenth largest city in the U.S. state of Iowa and the fourth largest city in the "Quad Cities". As of the 2010 United States Census the population grew to 33,217. Bettendorf is one of the Quad Cities, along with...
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, Michigan
Albion is a city in Calhoun County in the south central region of the Lower Peninsula of the US state of Michigan. The population was 9,144 at the 2000 census and is part of the Battle Creek Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, where their daughter Margaret (Rohwedder) Steinhauer and his sister Elizabeth Pickerill lived. Rohwedder died in Concord, Michigan
Concord, Michigan
Concord is a village in Jackson County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,101 at the 2000 census. The village is located at , west of Spring Arbor, Michigan.- Government :...
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 InstitutionSmithsonian InstitutionThe Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
in Washington, DC.