What hath toast wrought?
During the 1920s, Americans bought more than a million electric toasters, usually for use right on the breakfast table. Early electric toasters browned only one side at a time and required users to watch, flip, and then remove each slice. The automatic toaster debuted in 1926; it toasted both sides and popped up the finished slice.
“Make electric helpers do all your tiresome, beauty-consuming tasks.”
— Ad for General Electric appliances, 1920s
Salesman in Hood River, Oregon, 1926. Courtesy of Pacific Power Corp.
Utility companies went door to door peddling electric toasters, percolators, egg boilers, waffle irons, and even grills for tabletop breakfasts—in order to sell more electricity. They promised that "each electrical outlet in your home is a potential source of comfort and leisure."