The Toaster Turns 100 Years Old

[HarleyEarl]

The first electrical appliance turns 100 years old

November 16, 2005 It came after the electric light and before radio, television, microwave ovens, blenders, juicers, computers - indeed, it was the first electrical appliance to populate the home and one of only a handful of devices in history to achieve ubiquity in advanced nations. Interestingly, although it turns 100 years old this year, it can still be found in more than 90% of American homes. As the first electrical appliance, this also means we are now celebrating 100 years of electrical appliances. Oh, and by the way, can you guess what it is?

Now toast is not new, first having become common about 5,000 years ago in Egypt. Once more the Romans were responsible for the spread the idea of toast across Europe and the word "toast" comes from the Latin "tostum" which means scorch or burn.

The application of electrical energy to standardise the difficult process of scorching bread seemed a natural. Appliances fashioned from wire and designed for holding bread (over a fire) were among the more commonplace kitchen items of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and anyone who has ever toasted bread on an open fire will vouch for the many difficulties associated with the process.

In 1905, all the elements came together to enable the electrical toaster to happen.

According to the Cyber Toaster Museum, a young engineer named Albert Marsh applied for a patent for an alloy of nickel and chromium in March, 1905, which Marsh described in his patent application as having: "...the properties of being very low in electrical conductivity, very infusable, non-oxydizable to a very high degree, tough and sufficiently ductile to permit drawing or shaping it into wire or strip to render it convenient for use as an electrical resistance element."

Two months later, George Schneider submitted a patent application for an enclosed toaster using a resistance wire and the very first rudimentary electrical appliance, the toaster, was born.
(Gizmag)

[Carguy]

(WOW!)----The new fangeled bread warming contraption is allready 100 years old. I still prefer my bread strate from the wood burnin stove done by the little hands of my Women.---------MAKE ME SOME BREAD WINCH!

[Flybrian]

And yet, a century after its creation, much of mankind has still not been able to utilize it correctly...

[mute]

(WOW!)----The new fangeled bread warming contraption is allready 100 years old. I still prefer my bread strate from the wood burnin stove done by the little hands of my Women.---------MAKE ME SOME BREAD WINCH!

[post="46302"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

you spelled wench wrong

[HarleyEarl]

..you spelled wrench wrong

[mute]

..you spelled wrench wrong

[post="46470"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

you spelled " ... " wrong ellipsis always come in three unless they are in the middle and then its 4

[Satty]

Mute, you punctuated your sentence incorrectly. The "y" in "you" should have been capitalized, and there should have been a period after the number four. Edited November 22, 2005 by Satty

[HarleyEarl]

.....................what's a 'nuber'?

[Satty]

.....................what's a 'nuber'?

[post="46481"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

:blink: :huh:

[mute]

Mute, you punctuated your sentence incorrectly.  The "y" in "you" should have been capitalized, and there should have been a period after the number four.

[post="46479"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

whats a period?

[capriceman]

whats a period?

[post="46498"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

.

[chris]

B.S. what a load. buncha crock, that. they haven't even been making scion's for ten years, let alone a hundred

[mute]

.

[post="46518"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

OH thats a period! i asked my gym teacher and he told me somthing else

[ocnblu]

I have some really thick socks on this morning, so my feet are nice and... toasty.

[HarleyEarl]

Join me in raising our glasses and offering a 'toast' to Blu and his toasty feet.

[aaaantoine]

B.S.  what a load.  buncha crock, that.

they haven't even been making scion's for ten years, let alone a hundred

[post="46537"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

:cheers:

And yet, a century after its creation, much of mankind has still not been able to utilize it correctly...

They've been making cars for about 110 years and much of mankind still can't figure out how to utilize them correctly. Edited November 22, 2005 by aaaantoine

[Sixty8panther]

Cool, I would have thought the Toaster was invented in the 20s or 30s more usefull things like the Radio & iron. WEl at least the phone and lightbulb beat it.




On a related note, this is the toasted rear end in my '68 Camaro about 16 months ago.




now it's out of the car... a buddy wiht a '67 sold me his original rear for $100. :)




Inspecting the loose parts in an old B&M tranny pan. Lots of mangled metal.





About a month lafter I installed the new rear end I TOASTED 2nd gear in my $100 junkyard TH350 trans. I never learn.

[staceface]

so, i would suspect that humans, not able to find a match, have been lighting their smokes in the toaster for 99.5 years and thus the "singed eyebrow" look was also invented....