Featured Image Credit: Christopher Polk/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
Topics: History, Nostalgia, Celebrity, Food and Drink
Alice Wade
Topics: History, Nostalgia, Celebrity, Food and Drink
For most of us, imagining a world without sliced bread seems practically medieval.
So ingrained in our lives is it that few might think to question when it was actually invented. But for legendary actor and comedian Dick Van Dyke, using a loaf of bread wasn't as easy as just picking out a couple of slices for a sandwich.
The actor, who recently turned 100 and has proudly collected six Emmy Awards, a Grammy Award, and a Tony Award over the course of his career, was actually born three years before sliced bread was invented.
The nifty creation first landed on supermarket shelves after it was invented on July 7, 1928; three years after the actor, who was recognized as a Disney Legend in 1998, was born on December 13, 1925.
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And while it's something many now take for granted, the little-known story of how sliced bread came was nearly scuppered by a major factory fire.
Although bread has been eaten by people around the world for centuries, it wasn't until the early 20th century that it became a household staple, and bakers initially believed it would be only a passing fad, according to Gold Medal Bakery, a manufacturer based in Massachusetts.
Archaeological finds tell us that bread has been around longer than most people's great-great-great-grandparents, with evidence suggesting it first materialized about 30,000 years ago - so at least the food itself is quite a bit older than Van Dyke.
It became a culinary staple when people began farming plants and discovered how to grind various grains, but it wasn't until Otto Frederick Rohwedder came up with the idea of creating a bread-slicing machine that we now get the sliced loaves seen in most supermarkets across the world.
Rohwedder, an inventor and jeweler, continued to refine the invention despite all odds, including a 1917 fire that destroyed his factory, blueprints, and prototype.
It took another decade before sliced loaves were available for public consumption, but by 1928, he had created a 10-foot-long metal box with a row of sharp blades that could both slice and wrap bread.
Realizing that Van Dyke is, in fact, older than sliced bread, many people have been left putting their own spin on the iconic phrase 'the best thing since sliced bread'.
"[Van Dyke is] the best thing before and since sliced bread," one X user joked, as another said: "He was the best until sliced bread."
Much like sliced bread, Van Dyke has indeed been a long-lived success, and all his talk about longevity suggests he's not going anywhere soon.