Formal Unveiling of Bread Slicer at July 7 Event

CHILLICOTHE, MO — A slice of history arrived in Chillicothe recently via a large panel truck. This particular artifact is an original Rohwedder bread-slicing machine, on loan from the Smithsonian Institution of Washington, D.C. Paul Benson, chief conservator with the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, arrived on the scene to uncrate the bread slicer and place it in its temporary home at Grand River Historical Society Museum. On July 7, 1928, a Chillicothe bakery became the first place in the world to sell commercially-sliced bread. The baker was owned and operated by Frank Bench and the machine was the invention of Otto F. Rohwedder of Davenport, Iowa. Sliced bread was such an instant success that the machine in Chillicothe is believed to have fallen apart after six months of heavy use. Rohwedder’s second slicer, now at the Chillicothe museum, was used at Korn’s Bakery in Davenport, Owa. The machine was donated to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History by Rohwedder’s daughter in 1974. The local museum’s request to display the antique began about 10 years ago. The antique is on loan to the local museum for three years. A special exhibit will be unveiled on Sunday, July 7, to commemorate the 85th anniversary of sliced bread. The museum will be open from 1 to 6 p.m. on July 7.