Material

iron

Dimensions

Overall: 3 3/8 x 23 1/2in. (8.6 x 59.7cm) Toaster body: 1 7/8 x 13 5/8in. (4.8 x 34.6cm)

Creation Date

circa 1750 – 1800

Description

Three legged rotating (or spinning) toaster with a twisted, crooked shank and a leaf shaped handle with decorative filing and a large suspension ring at the end. The handle extends from the shank to the pivot point under the bread rack, where it is splits and forms two footed legs. A third leg is tenoned and riveted into the handle. It's rotating bread rack is composed of two pairs of arches made of twisted bars, interspaced with curled sprigs (one missing). The bread rack is attached to the handle by a rivet, which acts as the pintle on which it spins.

Perhaps one of the few dietary staples most modern Americans have in common with early Americans is a simple piece of toast. Cooking a piece of bread not only adds a delightful crunch and improves flavor, it is also an easy way of making less-than-fresh bread not only edible, but delicious. This is why toasters have been around for centuries, if not millennia, and are to be found in most kitchens today.

Anyone with a source of heat, some bread and something to hold it with can make toast. The existence of more complicated devices, like this wrought iron example, attest to the regularity in which early Americans toasted their bread. This piece is designed to hold two slices, and easily swings around to allow for both sides of the bread to be done. More ornate than many of those encountered, one can easily imagine the "sprig" designs this utensil could impart onto the surface of the toast it was used to make.

Provenance

Gift of Louisa F. France

Kitchen Artifact ID

Acc. No. 1994-113