Believe it or not, one of the staples of our everyday lives was invented and first sold right here in our area.  Sliced bread was first made and sold in Chillicothe, Missouri in 1928 by a struggling bakery, known as the Chillicothe Baking Company, which was owned by Frank Bench.  Bench began selling the innovative new product under the brand “Kleen Made Bread”, which immediately after it appeared on Chillicothe grocery shelves, increased his sales by 2000 percent in only two weeks.

The inventor of the machine, Otto F. Rohwedder, lived in Iowa and convinced Bench to try out his new invention at his bakery in Chillicothe.  The new machine, which was quite large at 5 feet long and three feet high, made the trip from Iowa in 1928, and the rest is history.  Rohwedder’s son, Richard, remembered, “My father and Frank Bench were friends.  When no one else in the world would give my father’s machine a try, Frank Bench did.  Other bakers scoffed at the idea, but the invention was an instant success.”

Unfortunately, Rohwedder, never really capitalized financially on his invention.  When the country entered the depression era he was forced to partner with a larger company for the manufacture of his machine.  In the course of this relationship, he somehow lost the patents for his invention.  For more information on the invention of sliced bread, take a look at this site which is the ultimate reference for the topic:  http://www.homeofslicedbread.com/breadnews.html#aug2103 .

The story above is an example of the type of story I am looking to include in my next book project.  My next book is going to be a collection of short stories and interesting facts about things that happened in or came from Kansas City.  I already have a lengthy list of items that I am considering for inclusion, but I am also reaching out to my readers for anything you think would be an interesting item to be included. 

Please email me any thoughts you might have at jonarcherjones@gmail.com.  Please don’t be offended if I don’t use your suggestion, as I said, I already have a pretty extensive list of possible items and of course there is a limit to the number of things I can include.

I’m excited about this new project and look forward to keeping my readers in the loop as to the progress of the next book.  Thanks for your support.