I saw an article the other day in which British Inventor Colin Furze had invented a toaster knife! Now, I’ve been in the wholesale baking industry for the last 50 years and had never heard of such a thing – what a great invention!
Anyway, it got me thinking, ‘We take electric toasters for granted. Who invented the first one and are there any other wacky ones out there?’
Here’s a brief history, the original electric toaster was invented by Scotsman (we’ll celebrate by having a haggis toastie!), inventor Alan MacMaster in 1893! That’s 122 years ago! He partnered up with British firm Crompton, Stephen J Cook & Company to market the Eclipse.
Although it was the original, it didn’t take off as it used to rust, melt, catch fire and, at the time, electricity wasn’t readily available. So it was a bit of a failure.
It wasn’t until the early 1900’s that big American firms started to produce their own and, arguably, the first was produced by a firm called Pacific Electric Heating Company, which happens now to be one of the most recognised brands worldwide… Hotpoint!
The above advert was from 1908 and states that El Tosto could be yours for the bargain price of $4! We love the description on the advert as well.
Enough of the old boring toasters – they have evolved so much in the last 122 years, so let’s skip a few decades and get to the interesting stuff!
Before I saw the toasting knife, or FurzoToasto as it is called, I had images of the lightsaber toasting knife from the film The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I was disappointed to find it looked like a hacksaw! Even though it is an eyesore it’s an improvement on the Eclipse. Have a look at the video of it in action of it below
Below is a selection of the favourite toasters I have encountered whilst researching for this blog:
Record Breaking Toaster!
Believe it or not, but the above toaster is an actual fully functioning toaster! The 34 slot toaster made by British firm Rowlett Rutland holds the Guinness World Record as the world’s longest toaster! I could do with one of these in our household!
VHS Toaster
I’ve seen the above picture floating around the internet for a while now and thought that it was a fake – but it is an actual working toaster! Want to make your own? Have a read of the blog here: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-VHS-video-toaster/?ALLSTEPS
Toaster and egg cooker combo
Why haven’t we seen one of these before? Surely this is now of the greatest inventions known to man! Tefal make a toaster that cooks both of your toast and eggs at the same time, and it’s only £37! http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tefal-Toast-Egg-TT550015-Toaster/dp/B0013KEDKY
The Power of Toast
Finally, here’s a fantastic video showing how much power actually goes into toasting your bread. World and Olympic indoor cycling champion Robert Förstemanns goes head-to-head with a tiny 700w toaster:
If it wasn’t for Alan MacMaster 122 years ago we wouldn’t be able to enjoy our British staple of toast (Bakestone) and a brew in the morning. So let’s raise a toast to Alan, and to toast!
Mrbakestone 