 Bread is the foundation of our daily meals. It's the number one food on the tables of people all over the world. And for a very good reason. It's the most economical source of the elements needed to provide energy and help build strong bodies. It is wholesome, tasty, and although man doth not live by bread alone, without it a meal seems incomplete. Formerly, most bread was made in the home, but it took experience and a lot of hard work to turn out good bread every time. The housewife usually gave a sigh of relief when her efforts were successful. Today the baking industry has taken over a good part of the job of providing America's daily bread and other bakery products. The industry produces over two billion dollars worth of baked foods per year. It employs more than 300,000 persons in a wide variety of jobs, calling for various degrees of skill and knowledge. In a large wholesale bakery, the actual baking is mainly machine operation. And except for certain key jobs, much of the work can be done by persons without any previous training. The first step in bread making is to prepare the flour by sifting and blending. The other ingredients such as sugar, yeast, shortening, milk, and salt are weighed or measured carefully according to set formulas. A man called a mixer starts the bread on its way to the table by pouring the ingredients into a huge dough mixing machine. He sets a scale which weighs out just the right amount of blended and sifted flour. The flour falls from an overhead hopper into the mixer which is then set in motion. Half a ton of dough, enough for a thousand loads could be mixed in some machines. When the dough is ready, it is dumped into a trough which the mixer's helper wheels into the air-conditioned fermentation room. In this warm, moist place, the yeast cells multiply and the dough rises. To make good bread, the dough must be allowed to ferment just the right length of time. The scale of the bakery superintendent is called on in working out proper schedules. Next, the dough goes to the divider where it is separated into pieces the right size for individual loaves. The divider man checks the weight of the pieces and regulates his machine so that the output is uniform. The rounding machine rolls the dough into compact balls. These travel slowly for a time on an endless belt in an air-conditioned cabinet or overhead proofer. This gives the dough a chance to rise again. Then the pieces are fed into the molder which flattens them and rolls each one up into the proper shape for the pans. The pieces are delivered to men known as panners who place them in greased baked pans. The pan racker puts the pans on racks which go into a proof box where further rising called proofing takes place. Here too, temperature, humidity and time must be carefully controlled. Then the bread is ready for baking. The oven loader sets the pans on the moving steel belt or hearth which carries the bread slowly through the oven where it can be observed through windows. Finally it is delivered. Bake to a golden brown and the oven dumper puts the loaves onto a belt leading to the cooling room. The oven man has a responsible job. He must regulate the temperature and humidity in various parts of the long oven to ensure bread that is baked to a turn. After cooling, the loaves go into a slicing and wrapping machine. Its razor sharp blades slice about 40 loaves a minute. The machine does all the work but the operator must watch it closely to see that everything goes smoothly. The wrapping end of the machine too is completely automatic. Wholesale bread is usually distributed by root salesmen delivering to stores and restaurants all over the city. But this mass distribution has not put the small retail bakery out of business by any means. In fact, most of America's 30,000 bakeries are small ones serving their own neighborhoods. In addition to bread of all kinds, retail bakeries make a variety of foods including cakes, donuts, rolls, pies, cookies, coffee cakes and fancy pastries. Because of this wide variety of goods, to be a baker in a small shop you have to have real skill and experience. Except for electrical mixing machines, flour sifters and in some cases ovens, the average retail bakery is not mechanized so hand work is the rule. One minute you may be getting a batch of cookies ready for the oven and soon after be making pies or cakes. And no matter what you make it must be really good if the bakery is to keep its customers. Not only good to the taste but clean and wholesome. The conscientious baker is aware of his responsibility to the consumers health. The working hours for a baker and his helpers used to be long and arduous. But today most bakeries operate on eight hour shifts. But a baker must be in good physical condition or some bakeries are warm places especially in the summertime. Bakers usually learn their trade as helpers or by contracting as apprentices. Experienced bakers teach the apprentice the skills of the trade and when the training period is completed the apprentice is qualified for a job as a journeyman baker. Baking can also be learned in a vocational school. Nationally known schools of baking are located at the Dunwoody Institute, the Sybel Institute of Technology and at the American Institute of Baking. Such schools offer ambitious workers a chance to qualify for better jobs in the industry. Their programs include instruction in the science and theory of baking, shop management and related mathematics. These schools have completely equipped bakeries where the student learns all phases of wholesale and retail baking. Courses cover routine shop work on all bakery products and special study leading to a thorough understanding of the chemistry of baking. The subject of fermentation includes the study of yeast. This one celled fungus with its facility for rapid reproduction plays a vital role in baking. When the course of training in a good vocational school is completed the students are prepared to take advantage of the opportunities for employment as foremen or production managers in large bakeries. Such men must be highly skilled technicians. There are also positions as executives for men who know baking thoroughly and who also have sound business ability. Men with scientific training are employed in laboratories engaged in routine analytical work for large bakeries or in research work for the industry as a whole. In some bakeries women are employed in light work such as putting frosting on rolls or cakes. But in retail business women are in greatest demand as salespersons. Here a pleasant manner and courtesy are necessary. For women with exceptional ability there are jobs as store managers for neighborhood retail bakeries and for companies which operate chains of retail sales rooms in large cities. Owning your own bakery is an attractive goal to those who know baking and enjoy the work. But you must also know management and have enough business ability to handle the book work which is a part of any commercial venture. But whether you operate a shop or work for someone else you will find the baking industry an interesting field. It is one which contributes to mankind's well-being. It is a permanent part of America's economy and is due for further expansion. It offers employment to many and a career for those who qualify. If the work appeals to you and you're willing to learn with a sincere desire to get ahead you may find some phase of the baking industry a worthwhile choice as your life work.