Chillicothe, Missouri's Sliced Bread page... click link for more of our history...
Click here to learn more about our annual Bread Baking Contest - BreadFest!
Hello! You've heard of the "greatest thing since sliced bread," of course. Well, we have the real thing - sliced bread! It was recently discovered that sliced bread was first offered for sale - ever - in Chillicothe, Missouri. A product of the Chillicothe Baking Company, it was sliced on a machine called the Rohwedder Bread Slicer. Invented by Iowa inventor, Otto Rohwedder, the bread slicer was put into practice in 1928 in beautiful downtown Chillicothe. A committee has recently been formed in Chillicothe to promote its new status as the "Home of Sliced Bread." Our poster briefly outlines the history of sliced bread, and we published a brochure recently. Click here to order one of our posters or a free brochure.

The first idea to "rise" from the committee was to find a logo. Entries were "kneaded" by February 1, 2004. Kim Ziegler of Chillicothe, Missouri, submitted the winning entry and won a $250 CASH PRIZE. Her logo is featured on the Home of Sliced Bread mural. You may see samples of all the entries we received here. We hosted our first Bread Festival (BreadFest) in September, 2005, and have continued it yearly. Souvenirs are offered for sale (see below) and more may be coming soon! There's lots "cooking" in Chillicothe, Missouri!


SLICED BREAD SOUVENIRS
These will soon be available at retailers who choose to carry them in Chillicothe, Missouri!

Order a Sliced Bread poster featuring authentic photos from Chillicothe's Sliced Bread history. Cost is $17.50 per poster, plus cost of the mailing envelope plus postage.

Also available...Our Sliced Bread Candle. Enjoy the fragrance of fresh sliced bread. Cost is $3.75 per candle plus shipping and handling (determined by weight of package).

NEW! Sliced Bread aprons. Cost is $20 each, plus any shipping and handling. Full white apron with our logo embroidered on front. A unique and special gift!

PHOTO COMING SOON!

Home of Sliced Bread T-Shirts. $18.50 each, plus shipping and handling. Available in S, M, L, and XL. White shirt with our logo silk screened front center.

Email us with the number of items you want, and we will determine shipping costs and email you back
with the total due. If you decide you still want to complete the order, send us your check in payment and your 
complete mailing address. We will send your order as soon as possible.
If you live in the Chillicothe area, arrangements can be made for the items to be delivered in town and
exchanged for your check. Thank you for your interest in The Home of Sliced Bread!


Make checks payable to Home of Sliced Bread Committee
and send to BK Web Works, 10518 LIV 2313, Chillicothe, MO 64601.

Please allow 2-4 weeks for delivery after payment is received.

Email us with any questions about these items.


Our Sliced Bread Brochure... click here to request one.


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See our logo entry form used in the contest which ended February 1, 2004, for more information about sliced bread.
You may also email the webmaster.

Entry form is in pdf format (portable document file). Adobe Acrobat Reader® (a free plug-in) is required to view the file.
If you don't have Adobe Reader®, you may download it here:

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SLICED BREAD HISTORY

JULY 29, 2003

Town Gains Notoriety as Home of Sliced Bread
By Catherine Stortz Ripley / C-T News Editor

A small story that got front page billing in the Constitution-Tribune 75 years ago about a Chillicothe baker being the first to introduce sliced bread is now making headlines once again. Only this time, readers now know what kind of a profound impact his product has had on the world. And, hopefully, this time around the story will be remembered.

Catherine Stortz Ripley, news editor of the Constitution-Tribune, rediscovered the article while doing research for a history book which the newspaper published in 2001. The original article was published on the front page on July 6, 1928. The headline: "Sliced Bread is Made Here. Chillicothe Baking Co., the First Bakers in the World to Sell This Product to the Public." The article was one that needed to be included in the history book, "Dateline - Livingston County," Ripley said.

"I couldn't believe that something with such great importance had been forgotten," Ripley said. "You would think that the town would have capitalized on the fact that sliced bread was invented here." Finally, word is spreading about how the first machine-sliced bread was produced at Frank Bench's bakery located at First and Elm streets.

A front page article appeared in today's Kansas City Star as a result of a reporter looking at the history book and is being picked up by other news media. Paul Wenske, a reporter from the Kansas City Star interviewed Ripley a couple of weeks ago about how she rediscovered the news article touting the invention of sliced bread. Bob Priddy, with Missouri Net News, contacted Ripley this morning (Tuesday) for an story to be broadcast this afternoon. Also, KFRU radio in Columbia, planned to do a live interview during its drive time show today. That interview, according to station manager Steve Thomas, can be heard on www.kfru.com.

Ripley said that family members of Frank Bench have contacted her extending words of appreciation for making sure his story has not been forgotten. "Thank you for remembering my great-grandfather's younger brother Marion Francis "Frank" Bench Sr.," writes Nathan Haley, of Kansas City, in an e-mail sent to Ripley. Likewise, Debbie Colton, of Chillicothe, extended words of appreciation for remembering Bench, who was her great uncle.

Haley provided a couple of articles published around the 1970s in the Constitution-Tribune relating to sliced bread and its introduction in Chillicothe. The articles were columns written by the late Bill Plummer, who was a long-time news editor of the C-T. In the articles, Plummer wrote that Hattie Bench, widow of Frank Bench, said that Mr. Bench and a man from Iowa developed the machine and produced sliced bread, which until then had to be sliced by hand in home kitchens.

Bench and his partner had patented the machine, but while they "kind of waited" figuring out a wrapping solution, a man from St. Louis picked up their idea, changed the machine a little and started manufacturing slicing machines and turning out sliced bread.

More Sliced Bread News & Information...

Sliced Bread Photos...

BreadFest...

Home of Sliced Bread Mural...

Request a Home of Sliced Bread Brochure...

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