In Colonial times, I doubt that there was any such thing as white bread. People got very tired of coarse bread, and when white bread first became available, few could afford it. So when light white bread became available, almost everybody wanted it, for no better reason than that it was something new. When I was a boy a chemical was used to bleach flour. One of the best things President Truman did was to make that illegal.
The wonderful thing about bread is the large number of varieties. I will never get tired of enjoying the aroma of home-made bread just out of the oven. I used to make dough in machine, but always baked it in the oven.
I can sympathize with German POW's in WWII who revolted, risking being shot, because they so dispised American bread.