Really Retro!
American Electric Upright Toaster (1910)
Ingenious modern devices for the preparation and serving of food are ever being developed to suit the needs of an increasing fastidious modern life. One of the latest of these devices is the American Electric Upright Toaster, shown in the accompanying illustrations. This toaster is finished in polished nickel, is light and compact and comes ready for immediate use by attachment to an ordinary electric lamp socket. With it two slices of bread can be quickly converted into crisp, brown, delicious toast, made to suit the taste exactly, because the toast is always visible in the making.
One of the main attractions of the device is that toast can be made rapidly and cheaply right on the dining table or tea table, where it can be served buttered and eaten while piping hot. This, of course, is one essential feature of good toast. Another essential feature of good toast is that it be evenly browned, and it is claimed that the toaster will toast the bread evenly with an entire absence of scorched or untoasted spots. Being made of sheet steel and without base of porcelain, composition or iron castings, it is said that this toaster can be bent but not broken, and will stand up under a great deal of abuse and rough usage before being injured. Another exclusive feature of the device is the fact that there is a sub-base. This means that the heat is not readily transmitted by conductivity or radiation to the lower base, hence the toaster may be held in the hand indefinitely without becoming so hot as to become uncomfortable. The toaster rests on four fiber legs, which prevent it from scratching or marking any polished surface on which it may be placed. There is an entire absence of screws or rivets, all parts being electric welded. The construction is referred to as being conducive to cleanliness and strength; the finish is polished nickel and the parts are electric welded. Soft cloth is all that is necessary to clean the toaster and keep it looking new.
One of the most unique and exclusive features of this toaster is the adjustable bread retainers with the spring tension. As one of the illustrations shows, these bread retainers hold the bread in close proximity to the heating element, and when the bread has a tendency to curl it is held equidistant at all points from this element, which means evenly browned toast.
The heating element of the toaster is a thin metal plate standing upright, encased between two thin metal sheets, and when the current is turned on this plate becomes hot. Especial attention is called to this construction, as it is radically different from the ordinary exposed wire coils resistance. In taking out the toast there is said to be no possibility of the fork used forming a short circuit and putting the toaster out of business. Again, this heating element becomes hot all over and hence the heat is radiated evenly to all parts of the toaster. During the process of toasting, the bread is retained in an upright position in close proximity to the flat vertical heating element, and thus gets the benefit of an intense heat without gases of any kind.
Concerning the rapidity with which toast can be made on the Electric Upright Toaster it is stated that starting with everything cold, the first two pieces can be made in about four minutes, and after that two pieces can be turned out regularly every two minutes, or, in other words, one slice of toast is turned out every minute. As little current is used, the cost of operation is said to be very low, in this country about one cent per dozen pieces of toast.
Commercial America: 1910