What was the best thing before sliced bread?

[SallyAnne]

No, I meant a penalty ticket yesterday.

See, things can only get better!

No penalty ticket - I trecked back up to the car yesterday before they had the chance to screw me for more cash!

[Churchill]

No penalty ticket - I trecked back up to the car yesterday before they had the chance to screw me for more cash!

How much cash do they usually give you?

Churchill - In "running like f**k from mad Northern Woman" mode!

[Grinder]

The best thing since sliced bread would be the Nuclear/Atomic Weapon. It's done more for peace and stability than any other invention.

Think about it, every other weapon has been invented to kill, once the demonstration was over (Hiroshima and Nagasaki), it's never been used in anger since.

Fusion bomb, 1952 ie not 'before' sorry you lose

[SizeZero]

According to Yahoo answers, sliced bread (or more accurately, the bread-slicer) was invented in 1928.

A quick glance down the list of all inventions compiled on Wikipedia, I'd like to suggest the best thing before 1928, (like the bread slicer perhaps the 'most useful') is the ballpoint pen in 1888.

Any other suggestions?

Yes, I'd go for the Match, friend of pyromaniacs all over Europe since the 1500s. Not everyone needed a pen back then, you were fooked without a nice fire in Winter.

[Grinder]

Good point.

Funny that the lighter came before the match... who would have thought it!

[dang65]

The greatest invention before, and after, sliced bread is the bicycle. Unbelievably versatile, cheap to manufacture and run, gave mobility to the masses, still the principle means of transportation in many places.

My all-time hero is Heinz Stucke, a German guy who left home in 1962, started cycling around the world, and has never stopped. It's one of my great regrets (yes, probably yours too) that I didn't do the same when I had the chance.

"The best thing since sliced bread" has to be a sarcastic phrase doesn't it? I mean, most sliced bread is disgusting, certainly when compared with a fresh loaf you cut yourself into nice thick, crusty chunks. And it can't have been that much of a labour saver when you think of all the other horrendous chores of that time. What about the hoover, or the washing machine for starters? But none of those beat the simplicity and perfection of the bicycle.

[TimberWolf]

The greatest invention before, and after, sliced bread is the bicycle. Unbelievably versatile, cheap to manufacture and run, gave mobility to the masses, still the principle means of transportation in many places.

My all-time hero is Heinz Stucke, a German guy who left home in 1962, started cycling around the world, and has never stopped. It's one of my great regrets (yes, probably yours too) that I didn't do the same when I had the chance.

"The best thing since sliced bread" has to be a sarcastic phrase doesn't it? I mean, most sliced bread is disgusting, certainly when compared with a fresh loaf you cut yourself into nice thick, crusty chunks. And it can't have been that much of a labour saver when you think of all the other horrendous chores of that time. What about the hoover, or the washing machine for starters? But none of those beat the simplicity and perfection of the bicycle.

Yeah, but the wheel had to come before the bicycle and that was a wheely good invention. Before that presumably bicycles had square wheels. Did you know square wheels work too?

[Churchill]

Fusion bomb, 1952 ie not 'before' sorry you lose

Calm down dear!

Reread my post. I didn't limit my answer to "Nuclear".

With regards to the Sliced Bread thing I think you should again reread my post. I said the best thing "since" sliced bread.

[dang65]

With regards to the Sliced Bread thing I think you should again reread my post. I said the best thing "since" sliced bread.

Yeah, but the thread title is "What was the best thing before sliced bread?" And that's what most people have been making suggestions for.

The atom bomb may, possibly, have prevented some disputes escalating into full scale conflict, but it certainly hasn't prevented wars. Wars have never reached the point of total annihilation (sp?) anyway - as in destruction of all people, buildings and land, which nuclear weapons are capable of. So they are pretty useless really, except to deter, say an American invasion of Russia, which would be so unlikely anyway that it's not even worth considering. Meanwhile, traditional warfare continues as it always has done.

EDIT to add: You might as well claim that chemical and biological warfare are the greatest inventions. They also cancel each other out when both sides have them.

[EternalOptimist]

'The best thing since the six-gun' -New York post wikipedia 1886
'Indubitably the handiest invention' London times profanisaurus 1887

The six gun was the previous title holder, for two main reasons.

First, it made all men equal, strength was no longer the deciding factor in a dispute, which did a lot for weedy Southerners and other frots.

Second, it opened a rich vein of humour that even sliced bread never surpassed. e.g. 'She came into the room and pointed a pair of 45's at me, in her hand, she held a gun'
'Hey Tonto, is that a six gun in your pocket ? or are you just glad to see me ?'


etc