When I was back in my "deprived" childhood, in the late 30s, we didn't have a toaster. My grandmother, who lived downstairs, would butter bread (one side) and put it under the broiler of the oven (butter up). that was "toast". Sort of soggy, and splotchy looking.

Then we got a toaster. No pop-up. Instead, there were two sides to the toaster, each side a bottom-hinged door at maybe a seventy degree slant. The coils were in the center, and both sides were exposed to the hot coils. You judged when it was done enough, flipped the door down, and the toast slid down and you flipped the door up again, thus turning the untoasted side toward the hot coils. When you thought the second side was done, you opened the door and removed the toast.

This was heaven! My cousin Joyce, who lived downstairs with my grandparents, and I would make a special occasion of making toast in the toaster and buttering it. Great treat for us, for a while until the novelty wore off.

Dave Oesterreich