I've always wondered whether any part of that story was true, or whether it just was an urban legend he heard somewhere.

And what would be the greatest thing since the invention of the wheel?

Posted by: Sam Grove | Jul 7, 2009 7:28:40 PM"

The axle, ball bearings and grease, pnuematic tire, and smooth roads, all have done more for the welfare of man than sliced bread and 1,000 pliticians.

Oh, and in 1956 I invented sex. Positively better than sliced bread. ;O)

Well, I do use thin sliced whitebread to make the shells for my Croustades Duxelle when I have company over. Then my wife makes bread pudding of the rims that I have cut off.

It isn't the slicing that I dislike per se, it is the bread itself, the ingredients and the texture. There are some commercial breads that actually use wood cellulous as a filler, and preservatives that would make King Tut envious.

However in reference to the slicing in uniform slices, well I enjoy the pleasure of making an open face breakfast sandwich by slicing off an inch thick piece of homemade whole wheat bread, slathering homemade lemon/rosemary ghee on it, then putting two slices of turkey breast and two slices of cheese on top of it, microwaving it for 20 seconds and eating it on the way to a job. Can't make that kind of breakfast on a tiny little half inch slice of commercial bread and have it turn out near so filling or delicious.

I do have to admit though that my slicing eye wanders a bit at times as I am not the best one in the world at cutting straight lines……don't want me on a construction job where you plan to sell my work to someone else! LOL! It is a miracle I get the tapes to thread straight, and considering that they go in in a cassette, that's saying something!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SLICED BREAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

;-o)

All improvements to the wheel.

and smooth roads

Made possible and desirable by the wheel and its improvements.

And you certainly sound mellow.

No senor Sam, the axle isn't an improvement of the wheel, it is a seperate device altogether, without which the wheel is useless. I am sure that back in the distant times someone made a wheel and sat and looked at it for a long long time before coming up with the axle.

Ball bearings make use of the wheel more efficient and grease makes the ball bearings last longer.

Pnuematic tires make use of the wheel more comfortable, as do smooth roads; but seperate devices for sure.

Reinvention of the wheel was never, and is never, a waste of time, because the attempts brought us all those improvements in its usage which translated into greater value from the basic invention.

True, but some things one does because it is worth it. I also have only my wife and I, so I make two huge loaves and freeze one. For two weeks plus, this gives us fresh whole wheat bread without preservatives and other BS. I never have the bread get moldy or be wasted.

I think knowing what is in my bread and who the baker is gives me a lot of peace of mind and personal satisfaction.

I don't mind the slicing. I use my electric carving knife and it does a good quick job.

Here is a tip for all potential home bakers of bread, and you John if you ever decide to get back into it.

Go to a restaurant supply store, buy two (or more) buffet line vegetable pans that measure 6" deep, 10" long, and 5" wide. They will be of stainless steel and make the best bread pans you can find. Even a novice can produce great loaves. Also invest in a really good heavy duty mixer with a dough hook (worth its weight in gold to a baker) as kneading is all important.

I don't do it for the expense, I do it for the taste and health.

Well I guess sex, if we take vidyohs at his word.

The broader point is that (unlike sex) someone actually had to invent all these things. It didn't just happen. The wheel did not exist until someone who was under no obligation to, invented it.

But I'll bet that is soon as it caught on, all the other people in the cave suddenly had a "right" to a wheel and were entitled to one just by existing. Soon the inventor of the wheel was forced to make wheels for everyone for fear that his skull would be smashed by the leader of the tribe who had also warned him to make it to certain specifications or else.

Of course the next time he had an idea that would benefit the tribe, he did not pursue it as it was of no benefit to him and it was no longer worth his while.

There may have been others who also had some great ideas how to improve life for themselves and those around them, but they were scared off once they saw what happened to the poor sucker who invented the wheel.

-Voltaire

(The rough translation being: the more things change the more they remain the same.)

Anyway, I am having a sandwich right now that involves two pieces of sliced bread and I am grateful that I am able to make lunch in record time thanks to all these wonderful little inventions.

Because of all the selfish and greedy people who in their own self interest created bread slicers, toasters, sandwich makers, coffee machines, refrigerators and flush toilets, my morning routine is far more efficient, pleasurable and even luxurious compared to my grandparents a mere seventy years ago.

What's amazing is that someone could just as easily not have gotten that particular idea and who knows what direction civilization would have taken.

Then again, who knows how many ideas were never put to test or failed the first time and was never tried again. Who knows where we would be as a civilization if some person somewhere would get some (at the time) harebrained idea and put it into practice?

A century and a half ago someone would have asked the same question and ended it with the words "like flying".

To move large rocks into place. Not a very worthwhile idea until you come up with the practice of a series of logs which can me moved to the front as they emerge from the back. A log brigade.