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#4 How has the toaster helped make life easier or deadlier? - Lydia Kleckner

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#4 How has the toaster helped make life easier or deadlier? - Lydia Kleckner

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There are about 10.43 million toasters sold in the U.S., and with that following a retail revenue of about 582.12 million dollars. All those toasters become a great help when you are in a rush in the morning and need a quick and nutritious breakfast. You can simply pop in a piece of bread and select how toasted you want it. Toasters make your bread nice and crisp and you don’t have to worry about burning it. The first toaster had to be turned by hand, but thank goodness, now we can just push down a lever. You can even have 4 pieces of bread cooking at once. Toasters aren’t all good though, statistics show that there are about 45 deaths a year from a toaster! People have more of a chance from dying from a toaster than they do from a shark attack or the disease, polio.

INFORMATIONAL WEBSITE

http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/toaster.htm

Citations

"HOW THE TOASTER CHANGED THE WORLD." Prezi.com. N.p., 17 Jan. 2015 Web. 13 Mar. 2015.

Rainey, Sarah. "How Terrifying Food Technology Has Changed Our Lives."Telograph. N.p., 16 Feb. 2015. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.

Kris. "Smooth Operator - Toaster Related Deaths at an All-Time High."Smooth Operator - Toaster Related Deaths at an All-Time High. N.p., 30 Dec. 2004. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.

Driscoll, Maryellen. "Today's Top Toasters." FineCooking.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.

Cope, Stephen Cope. "Death by Toaster or Death by Terrorism?" Stats Chat. N.p., 22 Sept. 2011. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.

"Toaster Ovens: U.S. Retail Revenue 2010, by Product Type | Statistics."Statista. N.p., 2010. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.

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The impact of this invention throughout the ages- Katey and Maggie

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The impact of this invention throughout the ages- Katey and Maggie

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Although they are a very useful kitchen appliance that you get your breakfast from every morning, toasters are considered one of the most dangerous appliances in your home (second only to the garbage disposal). The number of toaster related deaths have gone up by 7% since last year. Toasters have been known to blow up, as in shooting sparks from the inside. There is a theory that crumbs have been a major cause in starting many kitchen fires; they are also unfortunately used as a form of suicide. 36-year-old Nora Zylstra is charged for homicide after she was found guilty for suffocating her 14-month-old son with a pillow, and then trying to take her own life by getting into a full bathtub with a toaster.

"FOX6Now.com." FOX6Nowcom. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2015.

"Toaster Related Deaths at an All-Time High." Toaster Related Deaths at an All-Time High. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2015.

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Florence Ditlow, May 13 2013

The tradition of a toast before a meal is possibly from sixteenth century England, where diners floated toasted bread in a hot alcoholic drink. Bread toasted, known as toast is derived from "toastare," the Latin word for to burn or to roast. Toast has proven to be a necessity and here are the lengths we have gone to perfect it.

Egypt is given credit for early ceramics that provided the first clay oven. Grain and water allowed naturally occurring yeast to make leavened bread dough. Egyptians learned to bake by containing heat in clay structures -- ovens capable of expanding the dough in hot air, thus making bread. Much of the improved flavor came from heating the natural grain's sugars in a browning process known as caramelizing.

Historically, bread once baked meant: where there's fire, there's toast! The bread just needed to be held by a stick or a metal rod over a fire or a fireplace. This went on for about 5,000 years prior to the invention of electricity.

The first electric toasters

Alan MacMasters in Edinburgh, Scotland invented the first electric toaster in 1893. Crompton, Stephen J. Cook & Company produced an electric, iron toasting appliance called the Eclipse. Hot iron tended to melt, however and electricity was undependable, slowing toaster usage.

With toast in mind, William Hoskins and Conner Neeson of Detroit invented "Chromel" in 1906. This was an alloy for use in electrical devices. A succession of people worked at inventing a commercially available toaster, but the first U.S. patent was granted to George Schneider from the American Electrical Heater Company of Detroit. This patent was filed concurrent to the design of "Chromel" wiring and probably utilized it.

General Electric applied for a patent application in 1909 for the GE model D-12, designed by technician Frank Shailor, and touted it as "the first commercially successful electric toaster" though it seems that it fell short of that claim.

Lloyd Copeman and his wife Hazel applied for various toaster patents in 1913. Their Copeman Electric Stove Company introduced one with automatic bread turner. The company coined the term, "toaster that turns toast." It appears that homemakers were not yet convinced, but the Copeman fortune finally was made with his invention of the rubber ice cube maker in 1928.

The Pop Heard Around the World

Charles Strite really made the toast pop in 1919 with a machine timed to heat your bread to around 310 degrees Fahrenheit, then pop it out. His invention was reworked by Waters Genter Company; in 1926 they introduced their Model 1-A-1 Toastmaster.

Electricity was more dependable by the twenties, ripening the market for electrical appliances. What fired up the world then was not only dancing "The Charleston", it also was sliced bread. Otto Rohwedder's first machine began to slice loaves in 1928 at the Chillicothe Baking Co. in Missouri. The machine also wrapped the bread to keep it fresh. The owner, Frank Bench, became the first commercial baker to slice loaves mechanically. Otto Rohwedder's invention was quickly adopted and the thirties saw Continental Baking Company introduce sliced Wonder Bread, with a machine of their own.

Sliced bread was what busy mothers wanted in 1928, and there was the toaster to streamline the family breakfast. Significant chrome designs were made by Sunbeam and General Electric. Newly improved toasters were luxury items, costing up to a whopping $25 in 1939. Toasters produced in the U.S. from the late 1930s through 1960 were durably made and due to workmanship, many have lasted to the present.

Early toasters took time to warm the heater elements, giving lighter slices on the first round, going gradually darker as more bread was toasted. Those made since the 1930's frequently use thermal sensors, such as a bimetallic strip, for uniform browning. The ejector was geared to a timing device, all important to get toast quickly, apply butter and avoid burnt fingers.

The American home required bread toasting machines with names like "Radiant" (1915), "Hold-Heet" (1921), and "Torrid" (1929). Get your favorite bread, toast it, top it and take the toaster tour here.

About the Author

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Florence Ditlow, May 13 2013 The tradition of a toast before a meal is possibly from sixteenth century England, where diners floated toasted bread in a hot alcoholic drink. Bread toasted, known as toast is derived from "toastare," the Latin word for to burn or to roast.

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A toaster is an electrical device for making toast. It was created by Charles Strite so people would be able to make toast more efficiently quicker when in a rush. In the 1920’s the economy was expanding very widely. People had much more money to spend on convenient appliances in the 1920’s ,so many people were buying them left and right.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXpPLHHq5fQ (how to use a toaster.)

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What time period in history was this invention created during? - Meretta Peterson  

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What time period in history was this invention created during? - Meretta Peterson  

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Late 1800s, early 1900s. Around the time when electricity was being invented and used.

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Although the General Electric company created the first pop up toaster for household use in 1909. Ten years after the General Electric company created the toaster Charles P. Strite invented the first toaster for the restaurant in 1919. In 1926 Charles Strite’s company released a new design call the Toastmaster. In 1930 Continental Baking Company started selling sliced Wonder Bread. This is when toasters became very popular. In the 1960s toasters became more common and much cheaper than before. Now not only did just restaurants and richer people have them; Toasters became a household item in many homes. Starting in the 1970s the toaster became more unique to you. You could get them in a variety of colors to suit your needs. Not only was toast a big deal but so were bagels, so in the 1980s they made the slots wider so you could cook your bagels and wider sliced breads. Today the toasters you can buy come in many different colors and sizes.

Bellis, Mary. "The History of Your Toaster." About.com Inventors. About.com, 05 Mar. 2014. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.

"History of the Toaster." History of the Toaster. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2015.
"I N T R O D U C T I O N." The Cyber Toaster Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2015.

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Toaster collectors attend the annual meeting of the Toaster Collectors Association in Columbia, South Carolina where Bill Geist got a lesson in great moments in toaster history from Dr. Ken Huggins who has collected and restored the more than 1,100 toasters on display at his home.

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"history of the toaster'' Overstock.com

Bellis, Mary. "The History of Your Toaster." About.com Inventors. About.com, 05 Mar. 2014. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.

"I N T R O D U C T I O N." The Cyber Toaster Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.

Wilcox, Lindsay. "History of the Toaster." History of the Toaster. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2015.