| For thousands of years bread baking was a craft based on tradition. In some regions of the world that is still true, and baking remains a craft practiced by artisans on a small scale. In the United States and most industrial nations the production of baked foods is the subject of considerable scientific inquiry, and most bakery products are produced in food factories, with an estimated U.S. production in 1993 of more than ;The adoption of technological advances in the U.S. baking industry was given impetus by events of the First World War. Traditional production methods could no longer meet the increased demand for ready-to-eat bakery products, and change was needed in industry methods, productivity, and working conditions. The example of other major industries prompted U.S. baking leaders to create the American Institute of Baking as an industry technology transfer and educational center. The AIB was only one of a great many technical institutes which came into existence in the early part of the century, and remains one of the very few to survive the Great Depression.;This study examines the events and conditions leading to the founding of the organization, and traces the development of the AIB from 1919 through 1994. It also identifies individuals who influenced the survival of the Institute, discusses conditions which impacted on the organization, and cites reasons for relocation of the Institute to Manhattan, Kansas. The study also discusses proliferation of programs and products and cites economic, social, and product trend effects on the continuing prosperity of the organization. |
