It’s the most famous bread in America for better or for worse. Wonder Bread is iconic and controversial loved and hated. The brand once ruled the bread world but in today’s age of homemade sourdough baking and heightened health consciousness it’s seen by some as the epitome of an over-industrialized food system that’s unnatural and even suspect in nature. Wonder Bread has certainly had a turbulent history ending nearly a decade ago when the brand briefly disappeared from store shelves.
| Channel | Publish Date | Thumbnail & View Count | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|
 Weird History Food | 2022-05-01 15:00:09 |  888,671 Views |
The Dark and Dark Origins of Wonder Bread
It all began one morning in 1921 when people in Indianapolis opened their local newspapers and saw a bizarre advertisement. It said “Wonder” in large letters but there was no mention of what the advertised product actually was. In the weeks that followed more mysterious advertisements appeared in the papers promising miracles but revealing nothing more. Finally on May 21 of that year the Taggart Baking Company unveiled their newest product: a fluffy white loaf called Wonder Bread.
The public reception was sensational. In the years following World War I white bread had become rapidly popular in the United States. The perfectly formed loaves much softer than other breads were a huge success. It was an era before expiration dates when the public could not trust that food was fresh and a bread that felt so soft screamed quality. Today the fact that Wonder Bread stays so soft for so long is considered unnatural but back then people regarded processed foods with much more amazement.
The mind behind Wonder Bread’s mysterious ad campaign was Taggart Baking Company Vice President Elmer Cline. As successful as the campaign was it wasn’t Cline’s greatest contribution to the brand. He also gave it a name. A year before Wonder Bread was released Cline was watching the International Balloon Race at the Indianapolis Speedway and as the colorful balloons floated through the sky his mind was struck by one word: wonder. Cline decided it would be the perfect name for Taggart’s new product and the event also inspired the balloon imagery on Wonder Bread’s iconic packaging.
