A TOAST TO THE TOASTER..100 YEARS OLD AND STILL GOING STRONG

DailyExpress.uk ^ | March 31,2009 | Dana Gloger

[Daffynition]

NO wedding list would be complete without an electric toaster…

The cleverest little kitchen ­gadget since – well, long before sliced bread surprisingly – celebrates its 100th anniversary this year.

When Frank Shailor, a technician with General Electric, dreamed up his D12 toaster in 1909, it was 20 years before there was such a thing as a sliced loaf.

He invented it so people could still eat bread that was going stale and it was an overnight success. Bits of bread were simply wedged inside the exposed “wire fence”.

Unfortunately, this would prove quite hazardous because the bread had to be turned by hand to make sure both sides were toasted.

After a decade of people getting their fingers burnt came the first covered, pop-up toaster in 1919.

This led to the world’s first ­automatic electric toaster, the Toastmaster, in 1926.

When Otto Frederick Rohwedder invented a machine to slice bread in 1928, no home could be without a toaster.

The gadget has been through so many incarnations, there is a ­museum in Kettwig, Germany, with almost every toaster ever made, ­including the willow-patterned Pan Electric Toastrite and the modernist 1930s Saluta revolving toaster in nickel-plated steel and red Bakelite.

A spokesman for breadmakers Kings­mill said: “Bread has been a staple part of our diet for 6,000 years, but toasting is relatively new and it’s interesting that the process hasn’t changed that much in 100 years.

“The 1926 Toastmaster looks ­pretty similar to the toasters we have in our kitchens today.”

[Daffynition]

GE model D-12 Toaster, about 1909

The D-12 was one of the earliest toasters sold. The one pictured above is currently on display in the exhibition Lighting A Revolution at the National Museum of American History.

This toaster was donated to the Smithsonian in November 1968 by Mrs. Priscilla Griffin de Mauduit of Washington, DC. Her father was the toaster's original owner. The unsolicited donation of this toaster inspired Electricity Curator Bernard S. Finn to begin bringing a wide range of appliances into the Electricity Collections.*

[Coldwater Creek]

ping

[Daffynition]

The D-12 was one of the earliest toasters sold. The one pictured above is currently on display in the exhibition Lighting A Revolution at the National Museum of American History.

This toaster was donated to the Smithsonian in November 1968 by Mrs. Priscilla Griffin de Mauduit of Washington, DC. Her father was the toaster's original owner. The unsolicited donation of this toaster inspired Electricity Curator Bernard S. Finn to begin bringing a wide range of appliances into the Electricity Collections.*

Photo showing components of 1909 GE D-12 toaster.

Porcelain bases for the D-12 were available in plain white or, as seen here, decorated. Many early toasters sported elaborate designs for use at the table, rather than hidden away in a kitchen.

The 1909 General Electric catalog listed a plain white D-12 toaster at $3 (about $54 in today's money) and a decorated unit at $4 (about $72 today). The power cord cost an additional $1.50. Rated at 600 watts, the toaster could be purchased for a range of voltages–from 90 to 130.

The four heating elements consist of "Ni-chrome" wire coiled around mica plates. Invented by Albert L. Marsh in 1905, this wire combined the elements nickel and chromium–hence the name. An electric current made Ni-chrome wire glow cherry-red in open air, unlike a light bulb filament which failed if exposed to oxygen. Ni-chrome could be heated and cooled many times without breaking, and made an electric toaster practical. Ultimately, manufacturers adapted Ni-chrome wire to electric space heaters and other appliances.

This is the second of three D-12 versions made by GE. The first version became available in 1908 and featured a twelve-wire basket instead of the six wires seen on this unit. Also the ends of the two bread slots were connected to the central part of the basket frame by wires. This added rigidity to the basket but made it difficult to lift out the toast. The slots on the second model were open-ended so the bread could be more easily removed.

A third and final model D-12 appeared in 1910 with low-cut wire sides that allowed the user to simply tip bread in and out. A removable warming rack attached to the top of the basket above the heating elements on both the second and third versions of the D-12, but is missing from this particular unit.

This toaster measures 23 cm (9 inches) high by 18 cm (7 inches) long by 10 cm (4 inches) wide.

* For more information see: * See Finn, Bernard S., "Collectors and Museums," in Exposing Electronics, (Harwood Academic Publishers, 2000).
* Fisher, Charles P., Early Electric American Toasters, (self published: Framingham, MA, 1987).

http://americanhistory.si.edu/lighting/c_choice/choice2a.htm

[al baby]

I like the thermos better you put cold in it it stays cold you put hot in it it stays hot

How does it know ?

[Cyclone59]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrF_K1w2haE

[Tax-chick]

A brilliant invention! Making toast on a skillet is not the same!

[Constitution Day]

This thread is incomplete without some Heywood Banks!

TOAST

All around the country and coast to coast
People always say what do you like most?
I don’t wanna brag, I don’t wanna boast
so I just tell ‘em I like toast

[Chorus]
YEAH TOAST!!
YEAH TOAST!!

I get up in the morning about 6 AM
had a little jelly, had a little jam
take a piece of bread, put it in the slot
push down the lever and the wires get hot- I get toast

[Chorus]
YEAH TOAST!!
YEAH TOAST!!

Now, there’s no secret to toasting perfection
there’s a dial on the side and you make your selection
push to the dark or the light and then
if it pops too soon, press down again make toast

[Chorus]
YEAH TOAST!!
UH TOAST!!

[cyclotic]

My kids hate me when I sing them that song at breakfast.

[Daffynition]

LOL ......Yeah Toast!

[A. Morgan]

http://www.jitterbuzz.com/philfil/fliptop.jpg

This early toaster was made by the RUTENBER ELECTRIC CO, of Marion, Indiana. Rutenber is also well known in the antiques world for the Marion Fliptop Toaster. They coined the slogan “Make Toast Your Breakfast Food” Anything from the Rutenber company is VERY collectible and very well made.

[cripplecreek]

YEAH TOAST!!!!!!

[Dooderbutt]

Hey - you forgot the rest! :-)

When the first caveman drove in from the drags
didn’t know what would go with the bacon and the eggs
musta bin a genius got it in his head
plug the toaster in the wall buy a bag of bread make toast

[Chorus]
YEAH TOAST!!
UH OHH!

OuI monsuier bonjour coquette
on hon croisoiant on vous a vere
morishe vour Eifel Towere
ouI marie baguette bon soir

[Chorus]
FRENCH TOAST!!
FRENCH TOAST!!

[Constitution Day]

LOL!! I do that to my daughter too. Drives her nuts!

[Responsibility2nd]

My parents bought a new toaster in 1952.

It’s in their kitchen today. It still works - it still makes toast.

57 years. Wow! Name me an appliance made today that could be expected to last 57 years.

[mysterio]

I’m still using the one I got in 1994. That’s one product that really lasts.

[dhm914]

GE Monitor top fridge. last a long time

i am still using my parents 1950’s kirby vacuum cleaner, all cast aluminum body, impossible to break, it also shampoos rugs, has a drill attachment, buffing wheel, shoe polisher, and mothball sprayer. what more can a person want. then there is my 47 year old VW bug, runs like a top. or my trusty Bell System black dial desk phone, best sound, best ringer. and I CAN’T push “two” for spanish on it!!

[mysterio]

Heywood is hilarious.

[cyclotic]

Some days, it’s good to be the dad!

[Daffynition]

A thermos is also less likely to start a kitchen fire ... ;D

1905 American Electrical Heater Co.; Detroit, MI

[Uncle Miltie]

Toasters are fine, but grilled bread is better.

Fire up the Weber!

[Daffynition]

We used to have something that looked like this that we used to make toast at the hunting camp up north on a gas stove.

You never knew how the toast would turn out, even if you watched it.

[Tax-chick]

That’s a threatening thingie! We would just cook the bread in a little of the bacon drippings. It wasn’t exactly “toast,” but it was hot and crispy!

[Daffynition]

That is probably the toaster they got for their wedding! Imagine, a toaster that lasts longer than most marriages.

[Responsibility2nd]

Buffing wheel?

Is that for waxing your car?

When the wifey and I bought our Kirby in 1982 we had the option of buying the car waxing attatchments.

We passed on that one.

By the way. Does anyone know where I can contact a Fuller Brush agent? The hairbrush I bought in 1976 is losing bristles. And since I have a lifetime guarantee.....

[mysterio]

That is a neat toaster.

[heartwood]

My mother has a toaster that she got when she married almost 48 years ago. Nice solid chromed steel. Moves the bread down slowly when you put it in, and one time she had to get that motor fixed.

I’ve never had a toaster that lasted more than five years. The present one is approaching that, but four months after I bought it, the inner elements wouldn’t heat, and we have to flip our bread to get it toasted because I refuse to buy another until this one’s dead.

[Daffynition]

[Dr. Sivana]

And who could forget "Toast on a Stick?"

[xp38]

At some point this thread will be toast

[Daffynition]

Fuller Brush salesman video ...the last of a dying breed. The end of an era of trust.

Still made in the USA

I suspect that if you contact them, they'll make good on your hairbrush.

[La Lydia]

A beautiful Pan Electric Toastrite in Blue Willow recently sold for more than a thousand dollars on ebay. I would lurve to have one.

[Constitution Day]

GE Monitor top fridge. last a long time

My paternal grandparents were married in 1932. My grandfather bought a new GE Monitor Top refrigerator that year.

He died in 1970; my grandma died in 2003. The refrigerator is still working (perfectly!) at my aunt and uncle's shop.

I already have first dibs on it if they want to get rid of it (they have no kids).

[Daffynition]

1948

Janet Blair & Red Skelton

[pepperdog]

It must be a Sunbeam, I have one that I use to this day. Had to have the lift mechanism worked on once, fortunately have a guy that specializes in old appliances. My toaster drives the kids nuts, they can't figure out how to push the bread down as there is no lever, you just put it in and it slowly goes down. This toaster was the finest toaster you could buy in the 1950s, around $80 bucks I believe...but I could be wrong, I was just a kid back then. Also desirable was the matching Sunbeam Vaculator coffee pot, a two piece chrome beauty with the same logo on the side as the toaster.

[Loud Mime]

Chickens and Toast, please

[Daffynition]

Or the physics of toast?

[radiohead]

I heard this guy on a morning show and almost drove off the road when he got to the French toast part. Funny stuff.

[ConservativeMan55]

bttt

[Daffynition]

I love Blue Willow ... what a find that would be!

[Daffynition]

Be sure to turin it before it gets overdone. ;D

[JoeProBono]

[La Lydia]

What a beautiful, graceful, functional object she is. They really don’t make things like this anymore. They are all “modern” and would look right at home on a space ship. I have a 1948 Sunbeam Radiant Control that was handed down, is still working, and still has the original cord. It makes wonderful toast.

[ErnBatavia]

I’m lucky to get a year out of an electric coffee maker...

[Dooderbutt]

He’s a real hoot! He’s on the Bob and Tom show quite a bit. I was hoping he would be on the Comedy Tour down here in West Palm Beach, but no such luck. I’m sure we’ll still have a blast, though.

[Responsibility2nd]

The ULTIMATE Toaster.....

[Daffynition]

Or a work of art. ;-P

The Toaster - 7 m x 4,5 m - done out of 3.053 slices of toasted bread

[Daffynition]

Sounds like a chance at a slice of heaven. ;P

[Daffynition]

Some toasters were designed elegantly. When we cleaned out the old homestead, there was on just like it still in daily use. We threw it out [ouch!] b/c the cord looked like a big hazard.

Sunbeam model T-20 automatic toaster

Beautiful chrome body with incised deco design and bakelite base. It's automatic beyond belief! No levers to push -- no popping or banging. Just drop in the bread and the Sunbeam turns on the current and lowers the bread silently. When perfectly toasted, the current turns off and the toast comes up silently.

With "Radiant Control", the toasting is always the same no matter what kind of bread you use. The heat radiated from the surface of the bread activates the exclusive thermostat. That's why you always get the same uniform golden toast you want whether the slices or moist or dry, cold or warm, thick or thin.

Very popular as wedding gifts when it debuted in 1949. Slots are a little wider than usual. Cleaned and adjusted and in very good condition.

Sunbeam Corporation
Chicago U.S.A. Toronto, Canada.
110-120 Volts 1275 Watts

$198

[Daffynition]

Hoping you might come out of hibernation to join this thread. ;-D

This model was in introduced in 1947, built to last, signed and serial numbered, and used continuously for ten or twenty or fifty years by American families. Think of all those GIs, home from the war, marrying their sweethearts and starting families. It was very popular as a wedding gift, and at $23.50, it wasn't cheap.

Toasters were marketed not only for breakfast, but also for entertaining -- a toast party to watch CBS Playhouse on TV.

But, when the Toast-R-Oven hit the market, most of these "old fashioned" Toastmasters were stored away in the attic or basement, still in working order. (And greasy and full of crumbs, I might add.)

The original advertising features the Superflex toast timer which compensates for a wide range of voltage variations automatically; the bakelite "Easy-Lift" handles are large, smooth and curved to fit the finger tips, always cool to the touch; and, the Pop-open with hinged door on the bottom makes for easy crumb removal and cleaning.

The heavy steel case is plated in highly polished chromium. The fittings are bakelite. The control knob allows a range from light to dark.

This toaster has been disassembled, cleaned, repaired if necessary, reassembled and tested. It is ready to do just one thing.... make toast. It is in good condition with only minor cosmetic flaws -- a Toaster Central "best value".

Toastmaster Products Division
McGraw Electric Company, Elgin, Illinois.
$98

[JoeProBono]