|
||
---|---|---|
|
||
Canada | Mexico | United States |
|
||
Weston Bakeries | Grupo Bimbo | Flowers Foods |
|
||
wonderbread.ca | wonder.com.mx | wonderbread.com |
Wonder Bread is the name of a brand of bread. It was sold in North American stores and produced by three distinct companies: in Canada by Weston Bakeries Limited, a subsidiary of George Weston Limited, in the United States of America by Flowers Foods, and in Mexico by Grupo Bimbo.
It was first sold in 1921 in the United States, and it later became one of the first to be sold pre-sliced, being marketed like this nationwide in 1930. This led to the popular phrase "the greatest thing since sliced bread", upholding a paragon of culinary innovation.
Wonder Bread was originally produced by the Taggart Baking Company of Indianapolis, Indiana, and debuted on May 21, 1921, after a blind promotion with ads that only stated a "Wonder" was coming on May 21, 1921. The brand was named by vice president for merchandising development Elmer Cline, who was inspired by the International Balloon Race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Cline was filled with "wonder" by the scene of hundreds of balloons creating a kaleidoscope of color resulting in the iconic red, yellow and blue balloons featured on the Wonder Bread logo. The logo was designed by commercial artist Drew Miller while he was on staff at a Chicago ad agency.
Taggart was purchased by Continental Baking in 1925. This made Wonder Bread a national brand and added "It's Slo Baked" to the logo. In the 1930s, Continental Baking began shipping Wonder Bread in sliced form, one of the first companies to do so; this was a significant milestone for the industry and for American consumers, who, at first, needed reassurance that "wonder-cut" bread would not dry out. Unsliced bread returned for a while during World War II due to a steel shortage that led to an industry-wide slicing suspension in 1943. Bread slicers returned two years later.