Throwback Thursday is a new and interesting phenomena. We see some of the most interesting flashback post pictured all over social media. Here is yet another entry.
In 1943, the government, in order to ration materials in support of the WWII effort, sliced bread was banned! What?! You might be surprised to read this and quickly checking fact check to see if this is true. Yup, it is!
Invented in the 1916 and first manufactured in 1927, the sliced bread cutting machine changed the world forever. Bakers used the convenience of the invention to automatically slice loaves of bread for their customers. Housewives were delighted by the already sliced and packaged food staple.
From that time, the phrase, “better than sliced bread” has become a common phrase that compares the innovation of new products. We often like to think that what we offer is better than sliced bread. Not sure how this little nugget of history really changes anything but it makes for great conversation and useless, yet interesting trivia. Today, I offer one interesting spiritual parallel.
Today, the purpose of government is debated as to what their role in our personal al lives. We might even debate the legitimacy of certain laws, especially today! You can draw your own conclusions to the government example that may parallel here but that is for your own inspection. Political satire is prominent exactly because some things that are suggested by large, over-reaching powers are so unusual and overbearing that if we don’t laugh, we just might cry.
After feeding 5,000 men plus women and children, Jesus speaks to the crowd again, this time offering them a different kind of bread, one that would never rot, and would always keep them full. When the people ask for this bread, the Bible records, “Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger and whoever believes in me shall never thirst’”
Today, while sitting at a bakery, Sonrise Bakery in Warren, Indiana, I am writing this blog entry. Perhaps it is the aroma of freshly baked breads or the atmosphere but I cannot escape the incredible analogy of baked bread with Jesus Christ. One of his most prominent miracles that happened more than once was the feeding of 5,000. Jesus taught using everyday analogies; something you could remember through your daily activities.
Pointing to His own death and rising again, He announced His central role in our own salvation. Predating the invention of sliced bread, we might be able to say that He and His teaching is better than sliced bread!
Remarkable, when the war time government overreach occurred in 1943, banning sliced bread, many opinions and criticism were heard at water coolers and street corners all over the country including famous celebrities. Actress Olivia Mary de Havilland remarked, “Steps should have been taken long ago because bread was always sliced too big and it was about time the government stepped in.” Try not to laugh.
The whole notion of rationing and controlling every detail to one’s life, as was the case of the 1943 government “food order #1”, preventing the slicing of bread by bakers, the order was retracted just 2 months from when it was issued. Most in the Roosevelt administration denied authorship of the bread rule and themselves from it claiming they didn’t know who was responsible for its creation.
