It has now been over 100 years since the toaster was invented. This brilliant invention has been making a lot of mornings good for over 100 years. But who actually made this invention? And how did the toaster evolve into how we know it today? We’ll take you through that today!
The beginnings of toast
So it has been more than 100 years since the toaster was invented, by Charles Strite. Strite was working in Minnesota in America. Burnt toast was regularly served in the canteen. This caused much annoyance to Strite, he decided to change this. The bread was toasted over the fire for a very long time.
However, there were already technical possibilities at that time. An earlier toaster was invented in Scotland in 1893 by Alan MacMasters, this device was powered by coiling nichrome. But this is not the kind of toaster everyone has in their homes today. There are similarities, but Strite came up with a very different device
The TOASTMASTER
In 1926, Strite came out with the first toaster under the brand name TOASTMASTER with the slogan ‘You don’t have to watch it, the toast can’t burn’. This was the whole thrust behind Strite’s invention. New compared to the already existing toaster were the timer, which was adjustable, and the spring mechanism. This combination ensured that the perfect toast was ejected after the elapsed time.
Worldwide success
The TOASTMASTER was a worldwide success. In the 1930s, around 1.2 million were sold annually, and the rest is history. Even though there is still registration for Toastmaster’s ”Automatic ELectric Toaster” to this day, this just goes to show that trademark law cannot protect you forever. After all, we know how many trademarks and variants are present in the market today!