Old toasters

[Heather]

Since I'm sick and tired of my family's toaster crapping out every few years, I was thinking that it's high time
I bought one that was built to last! When I told hubby I was going to go on eBay for a replacement he said, "let me guess---it's going to be old and stainless steel" lol ahhh he knows me to well! Anyways, any vintage brands to recommend or advice on what to look for?

 

[LizzieMaine]

If you have the patience to manually flip your toast, a simple non-automatic toaster is a very good choice -- the thermostat is the weakest link in an old toaster, and when there's no thermostat to go bad, the toaster could last forever. I have a 1920's manual toaster I bought for a dollar in 1979, and I've been using it ever since. Any of the name brands -- Universal, Hotpoint, GE, etc. -- would be a good choice, but stay away from the cheap no-brand drugstore stuff.

The one big thing to remember with a manual toaster is not to leave the room or answer the phone when you're toasting something -- if you forget, you'll incinerate your bagel and ruin your breakfast.

 

[Heather]

Thanks LizziMaine! i'm open to that but how do you know when to flip the bread? Is that something you just get down to a time by personal choice? It's sad...we'd keep the thermostat at a certain setting and it would never come out the same twice....I guess the thermostat was on the fritz for awhile...

 

[Shangas]

Toasting on a manual toaster, I imagine, would be one step up from toasting bread on a toasting-fork in front of an open fire. You judge when the toast is ready and then flip it over.

But as Lizzie says, do NOT leave the room or get distracted while this is happening. I stayed at a hotel once which had a self-serve breakfast area and it had this old-fashioned electric toaster. I remember it quite distinctly. You had to flip your bread manually otherwise it would turn to a crisp.

 

[LizzieMaine]

You develop a feel for how long it takes -- you open the doors and take a peek, and if it looks brown enough to suit you you flip it over and do the other side. A slice of white bread toasts faster than a bagel or an english muffin, so you also have to have a sense of how long various items will take. You'll burn a few at first, but then it'll become second nature.

I don't recommend cooking pop tarts or other toaster-pastry things in manual toasters though - when those things burn, they ignite and burn like a torch because of all the sugar. It's spectacular, but startling.

 

[Heather]

Haha@the pop tarts. Hope that isn't from personal experience!;-) I wonder how hard it will be to train my husband tho (he likes to make random breakfast sandwiches at night and have a nightly snack--all of which of which involve English muffins).

 

[lolly_loisides]

Are Dualit toasters available in the US? Expensive, but really good. It was first designed in the early 50's & remains unchanged to this day. I've had one for 10 years & it's still going strong. http://www.dualit.com/products/classic-toasters

 

[Gregg Axley]

Very nice...

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Funny that this subject arises right after I purchased this "Son Chief" toaster from (I think) the mid thirties. Was a bit grungy, but easy to disassemble for a thorough cleaning with scotch brite.
Still burns toast like the day it was made.

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[Shangas]

Funny that this subject arises right after I purchased this "Son Chief" toaster from (I think) the mid thirties. Was a bit grungy, but easy to disassemble for a thorough cleaning with scotch brite.
Still burns toast like the day it was made.

[/IMG]

I saw (and sold) a toaster almost identical to that one at the thrift-shop where I work. How effective are they? I admit they look pretty damn cool.

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Very effective actually. Mine toasts a side of bread in about 45 seconds to one minute, and of course it depends on how dark you want it.
I think this company made billions of these things over a twenty year span maybe. They are quite cheaply made out of simple stampings, but the "electronics" last forever it seems. I've seen them in a few places on the internet. One or two of these on ebay right now. The Son Chief Electric Company is still in operation today.

I saw (and sold) a toaster almost identical to that one at the thrift-shop where I work. How effective are they? I admit they look pretty damn cool.

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Here's a site with toasters, (some of which look thoroughly dangerous) of all descriptions for those interested,... http://toast2go.tripod.com/ToasterGallery-Index.html

 

[30s sliphorn]

[/IMG]

This is my great grandmother's Universal toaster. When you flip the doors down, it flips the toast to the other side as you put the door back up.

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