Why the French eat white bread

I chanced upon an article in the NY Times today that, if it's true, has solved one of life's minor mysteries: where did the French version of Wonder Bread come from?

If you scan the shelves of any French supermarket you'll spot sliced white bread sold under the name Harrys. I've always wondered who came up with the idea of selling.  The article talks about the nostalgia surrounding  the American airbase at Chateauroux, which was closed in the late 1960s.

In the 1960s a local entrepreneur, Paul Picard, the owner of a baked goods business, was impressed by the strange square white bread that the American servicemen ate. Like other Frenchmen accustomed to long, crusty baguettes, Mr. Picard had never seen anything like it, yet he thought it offered possibilities. So he visited bakeries in the United States to learn how it was baked, then returned to France where he essentially re-engineered Wonder Bread. To give it an American flair, he called it Harry’s American Bread and decorated the packaging with the stars and stripes of the American flag."

Above and beyond these crusty details, the article is an interesting portrait of a moment in French history that most French people my age aren't even aware of. Mystery solved.