Embedded Files
Before the first toaster
Before the first toaster
Toasting bread is an ancient practice. Early civilizations placed bread over an open fire in order to preserve it, to keep it from growing mold. The bread was toasted on a hot stone in front of the fire. Later on, simple devices were created to toast bread in the fire such as wire frames, to cook the toast more evenly, or sticks like those we use to toast marshmallows over a campfire today. The Romans brought the idea back from Egypt in 500 B.C.
The first making
The first making
With the arrival of wood and coal stoves in the 1880’s, a new toasting method was needed. This led to a tin and wire pyramid-shaped device. The bread was placed inside and the device was heated on the stove. Fire was the source of heat for toasting bread until 1905 in Detroit when the engineer Albert Marsh created a nickel and chromium composite, called Nichrome. Marsh’s invention was easily shaped into wires or strips and was low in electrical conductivity. Within months, other inventors were using Nichrome to produce electric toasters.
Page updated
Report abuse