Inventor Of The Toastmaster Toaster
Revolutionized America’s Morning Toast Experience
In the morning my husband or I ponder a great responsibility, who will make toast? He likes butter on his slices. Usually I eat my toast plain. The slices are cut in half and delivered on a cutting board. One morning in the fall of 2021 my husband brought toast with a twist to the table. Instead of the usual expectations he cut my slices into smaller pieces and arranged them – his toast sculpture project was born.
Since his first sculpture he made simple and complex designs. He might cut, lean, and stack pieces on each other, he might make cuts so the pieces locked together, or he might use toothpicks to stack pieces and keep them from falling to pieces.
Shout out to the inventor of the toaster we use today, Charles P. Strite (illustration). In 1919, this Minneapolis resident was working at a manufacturing plant. According to Strite, the cafeteria often served burnt toast. This inspired him to create a toaster that would toast bread automatically with minimal human intervention. Strite’s device was called the Toastmaster and he was awarded a patent for it in 1921. The Toastmaster had heating elements that could toast both sides of a slice of bread at the same time. The device also had a timer that would turn off the heat and a spring that would eject the toast, eliminating the chance of burning. Strite’s invention found its way into restaurants immediately. By 1926, he introduced a consumer version with a variable timer that allowed the user to adjust the desired lightness or darkness of their toast.
It’s 2025. I share videos of the sculptures my husband creates to my Instagram stories (@alex_savakis) because it’s what you do.