It was originally produced by Taggart Baking Company of Indianapolis and debuted on May 21, 1921, after a blind promotion with ads that stated only that a "Wonder" was coming on May 21, 1921. It was named by Vice President Cline, who was inspired by the International Balloon Race at the Indianapolis Speedway resulting in the red, yellow and blue logo. The logo was designed by commercial artist Sidney Peers 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. Unsliced bread returned for a while during World War II in an effort to conserve packaging materials (a heavier package is required to preserve the freshness of sliced bread).
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, though the wheat itself has been stripped of its original nutrients through bleaching. 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 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 2000, a California jury in a racial discrimination suit against Interstate Bakeries Corp. awarded twenty plaintiffs $121 million, the second-largest award in U.S. legal history involving a private company accused of such wrongdoing. In 2004, Interstate Bakeries declared bankruptcy, putting the future of Wonder Bread in some doubt.
On August 28, 2007, it was announced that Interstate Bakeries would end production of Wonder Bread in the Southern California market, leading to a loss of 1,300 jobs. This is due to the judgment in the suit and a decline in sales, as Southern Californians in particular are partial to whole-grain breads and "premium" loaves. As of September 2009, Wonder Bread and other Hostess Brands have returned to Southern California Supermarkets.
Produced 6 days a week, consumers can determine on which day the loaf of bread was baked by the different colored bag ties:[citation needed]
Color
Day
Blue
Monday
Green
Tuesday
Orange
Wednesday
Red
Thursday
White
Friday
Yellow
Saturday
Canada
Wonder Bread (Canadian packaging)
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.
Mexico
Wonder Bread is produced in Mexico by Grupo Bimbo, the largest baking company in Mexico. As with the Canadian Wonder Bread this is not a license, since Bimbo bought Wonder bread brand and factories in Mexico; the package was the same as the one in the USA, but later changed.
Pop Culture
Comedian / Actor Eddie Murphy made a bit in his 1987 stand-up Raw . The bit had Eddie's mother making him a homemade hamburger with onions and green peppers on Wonder Bread.
External links
Official Canadian Website (George Weston Bakeries)
Official Mexican Website (Grupo Bimbo Bakeries)
Official US website (Hostess Brands)
Notes
^ "Baker Slicing Production."
Categories: 1921 introductions | American breads | Bakeries | Brand name breads | Food companies of Mexico | George Weston Limited brands | Grupo Bimbo brands | Hostess BrandsHidden categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from December 2008
