You need big bread to live in New Jersey's Wonderbread factory

Wonderbread is celebrating their 100th anniversary this year. Ironically their old factory in Hoboken has been transformed into 83 condominiums with an average price of $1.3 million and a high price of $3.4 million.

Wonderbread got its name when the marketing department used the term that a “wonder “ was coming which was the sliced bread that was a first for a soon to be national company. Historians say that the phrase “the best thing since sliced bread” was indeed attributed to the sliced bread of Wonderbread.

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The colorful balloon like images on the packaging came from the marketing manager and some Wonderbread upper management attending a balloon festival in Indianapolis. The sight of all the colorful hot air balloons was a “magnificent sight” and they took that image to the packaging of their famous bread.

The original Wonderbread factory was opened by a group of German immigrants who purchased the building and made and sold their malt bread which was a recipe from their home country.

In the mid 1920’s the building was sold to Wonderbread and the factory was expanded to accommodate the demand of producing enough Wonderbread product for the east coast. I remember the smell of the bread whenever we were in the vicinity of the factory. It was heaven and a smell you never forget.

The new condos have been transformed into some pretty cool and historic living spaces. The developers kept quite a bit of the historic brick structure and added amenities that make the 83 available condos attractive to potential buyers. Since the properties went on the market this October, they already have sold 50% of the properties.

It’s good to see that some historic sites here in New Jersey are being repurposed rather than destroyed. I’m thinking those who move into the historic factory may get the smell of that wonderful Wonderbread still wafting in the air, now that’s worth a million dollars right there!

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 weekend host Big Joe Henry. Any opinions expressed are Big Joe’s own.

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