Pullman loaf

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The pullman loaf, sometimes called the "sandwich loaf" or "pan bread," is a type of bread made with white flour and baked in a long, narrow, lidded pan. The French term for this style of loaf is pain de mie. In the United States, many popular mass-produced sliced breads are actually pullman loaves; the slices of such breads are frequently square, with four flat (uncurved) crusts.

One theory of the origin of the name, "Pullman," is that the word was derived from a resemblance between the loaf (or its pan) and the Pullman railway car. Some bread companies reinforce this connection by printing the image of a Pullman railcar on their bread wrappers. Another theory states that the Pullman loaf acquired its name because the cuboid shape of the loaf made it easier to store on-board railway dining cars. In contrast to the cuboid-shaped Pullman loaf, the oval-shaped loaves of the past did not lend themselves to maximizing the storage space in confined on-train cooking areas.