THE MAN WHO SLICED TIME

I was eating a toasted gluten free, everything bagel that was sliced so nicely. As I was sipping coffee, munching, on my bagel, and reading the news on MSN I saw an article about the inventor of the automated bread slicer in 1928. I researched the article, read more about the invention, and found out Wonder Bread was the first sliced bread loaf sold in 1928. July 7, 1928, was the inventor's birthday and the birthday of Otto's Bread Slicer. Enjoy history with a SyFy, for fun, fictional vs truth story!

Time-Sliced Breakfast piece:

Script: The Man Who Sliced Time

In a quiet bakery in Chillicothe, Missouri, on July 7, 1928, a machine hummed to life.

It did not just slice bread.

It sliced time.

Otto Frederick Rohwedder, a jeweler turned inventor, had spent over a decade chasing a dream

to make bread easier to share, to store, to savor.

After a fire destroyed his first prototype in 1917, most would’ve given up.

But Otto rebuilt.

And on his 48th birthday, the first loaf of pre-sliced, wrapped bread was sold to the public.

It was the beginning of a revolution.

A quiet one.

A domestic one.

The kind that starts in kitchens and ends in history books.

They say it was the greatest thing since, well, you know, a slice of bread.

Time-Sliced Breakfast

Part 1: The Origin

“In a quiet bakery in Chillicothe, Missouri, on July 7, 1928, a machine hummed to life.

It didn’t just slice bread.

It sliced time.”

“Otto Frederick Rohwedder, a jeweler turned inventor, had spent over a decade chasing a dream

to make bread easier to share, to store, to savor.

After a fire destroyed his first prototype in 1917, most would’ve given up.

But Otto rebuilt.

And on his 48th birthday, the first loaf of pre-sliced, wrapped bread was sold to the public.”

“It was the beginning of a revolution.

A quiet one.

A domestic one.

The kind that starts in kitchens and ends in history books.”

Part 2: The Glitch (Whimsical Shift)

“But what Otto didn’t know… was that his machine didn’t just slice bread.”

“It sliced dimensions.”

“One morning, somewhere between Earth 12 and Earth 19, a pink-haired traveler dropped in a slice of gluten-free sourdough…”

Toaster: DING!

Bread pops up—charred, glowing, whispering in Latin.

“The jam reversed. The coffee brewed backward. A ghost from 1928 appeared holding a butter knife.”

Ghost: “You sliced time, not toast.”

Revised Outro (Warm + Wonder-Filled)

“Otto didn’t just invent a machine.

He gave us a way to share warmth, one slice at a time.”

“And maybe, just maybe he opened a tiny portal in the process.”

“Because every morning, when the toaster hums and the bread rises,

We’re not just making breakfast.

We’re remembering a moment when invention met imagination.”

Great question to end on, and yes, people absolutely sliced bread before the bread slicer. But here’s the twist:

Before 1928, bread was sold as whole loaves, and people sliced it at home with a knife.

This meant slices were often uneven, thicker, and harder to store or toast consistently.

Otto Rohwedder’s invention in 1928 automated the slicing and wrapping process, making bread more convenient, uniform, and longer-lasting.

So yes, bread was sliced before, but Otto made it effortless, consistent, and ready to share. That’s why his invention was hailed as “the greatest forward step in the baking industry since bread was wrapped”.

“Happy birthday, Otto.”

“Wait, didn’t people slice bread before 1928?”

Yes. But Otto made it beautiful, uniform, and ready for the toaster. And maybe, for time travel too.”

This is a history about the day the bread slicer was invented. Such a little bit of history can be lost in time. However, this true bit of history was fun and to create a ghost story of being visited in 2025 by a 1928 ghosts was even more fun. This is fiction.

written, created, edited by

Vicki Lawana Trusselli

Trusselli Art

copyright 2025

California