Wonder Bread
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wonder Bread is a North American brand of extremely soft white bread. It was originally produced by Taggart Baking Company of Indianapolis and debuted on May 21, 1921, after "blind" promotion with ads that stated only that a "Wonder" was coming on May 21, 1921. It was named by Taggart Vice President Elmer Cline, who was inspired by the International Balloon Race at the Indianapolis Speedway resulting in the red, yellow and blue logo.
Taggart was purchased by Continental Baking in 1925. This made Wonder Bread a national brand and added "It's So Baked" to the logo. In the 1930s, Continental Baking began shipping Wonder Bread in sliced form, one of the first companies to do so. Unsliced bread returned for a while during World War II due to metal shortages in the production process.
During the 1940s Continental Baking began adding vitamins and minerals to Wonder Bread as part of a government-sponsored program of enriching white bread. This development is credited with greatly reducing the incidence of the diseases beriberi and pellagra. In the 1950s, Wonder Bread further expanded advertising of its nutrient enrichments. The company sponsored Howdy Doody with host Buffalo Bob Smith telling the audience, "Wonder Bread builds strong bodies 8 ways. Look for the red, yellow and blue balloons printed on the wrapper." By the 1960s Wonder Bread was advertised with the slogan "Helps build strong bodies in 12 ways," referring to the number of added nutrients. In 1986, the lower-calorie Wonder Light bread was introduced.
In 1995, Continental Baking was bought by Interstate Bakeries Corporation. In 2004, Interstate Bakeries declared bankruptcy, putting the future of Wonder Bread in some doubt.
In 2000, a California jury in a racial discrimination suit against Interstate Bakeries Corp. awarded 20 plaintiffs $121 million, the second-largest award in U.S. legal history involving a private company accused of such wrongdoing.
Wonder Bread is produced in Canada by Weston Bakeries. This is not a license, as Weston owns the Wonder trademark in Canada outright, although the packaging is very similar.
Wonder bread is known to several generations of youngsters as being very highly compressible. It is commonly recommended in the treatment of pica, in which small inedible objects are swallowed by a child or dog, and there is some concern that the intestinal tract might be punctured or blocked as a result. The highly compressible bread can form a soft lump around the object(s) in question, allowing it to pass safely.
[edit] Pop culture
Wonder Bread holds a special place in American culture as the prototypical American-style industrially produced white bread.
In the 10th episode of Weeds Season 2, a DEA agent (Peter) is nicknamed Agent Wonderbread and the agent is upset about this new nickname of his in the 11th episode.
In Stargate SG-1 episode "200," Teal'c calls Daniel "Wonderbread".
Although Wonder Bread is not an actual NASCAR sponsor, it is the official sponsor of Ricky Bobby's #26 Chevrolet Monte Carlo in the 2006 film Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.
Wonder Bread is mentioned in the song "Samson" by Regina Spektor on the albums Songs and Begin to Hope.
Tony Soprano called Italian Americans who have only tenuous links to their cultural heritage "Wonder Bread Wops" when talking to Jennifer Melfi in an episode of the critically acclaimed HBO drama series, The Sopranos.
