Hold on to your bagels, breakfast lovers. Sandwich lovers too. May the force be with you.
Where would the world be without things between two slices of bread? It can be a magical treat. Sometimes, it becomes all that much better when we give it a toast. Yes, crisp it up. Put a little crunch in our Braunschweiger sandwich.
We have Charles Strite to thank for this. Today is his birthday, entering this world on February 27, 1878. His entering point was Minneapolis, Minnesota, thanks to the whereabouts of his mama.
He was the good man who invented the automatic pop-up toaster that we know and love today. As I said, just like magic, Strite’s toaster heated both sides of a slice of bread at the same time. His sparkly new device included a timer that turned off the electricity when it was all done putting the golden-brown on white bread. Finally, and this is the fun part, it included a spring that popped up the toast when the electricity turned off.
This guy was thinking. All the parts of his new toaster were unique advances at the time. Like magic. Strite put the Pop in Pop-Tarts.
He named the thing “Toastmaster” — not like the kind at weddings and celebrity roasts, but the Master of Toast. In 1926, his company began selling the Toastmaster for home use.
Of course, I would be remiss if I did not mention the following invention by Otto Frederick. He came up with the bread slicing machine in 1928. It boosted the success of Strite’s toaster.
Toasters became extremely popular, selling 1 million units annually by 1930.
Some like bread toasted lightly, and others like it well done.
I am the opposite of Darth Vader.
He likes his toast on the dark side.
When bread needs a boost
