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A Superior Toaster



Source: Flickr user Jim
    I'm sure you never thought that you would see a Lorenzo Ramble about a toaster. (hint: it had something to do with a weird YouTube recommendation.) But, here we are. Toasters are something that you probably don't think about on a daily basis. Mostly because they aren't needy, they just work. These toasters were first manufactured in 1949, but were most popular during the 1950s and 60s. "Those newfangled toasters, they don't toast like they used to,and they aren't made the same!" every stereotypical American person ever. Except in this case, they wouldn't be exaggerating. There is a pretty devout following to these toasters, and there is a website dedicated to them. The website, Automatic Beyond Belief contains tabs with names such as: "dating your toaster." Besides being really good looking, this toaster also toasts bread in a unique way. Today's ramble will be a little shorter, because I have a life, and excessively long indoor track meets. So...yeah.

 Simple Genius  

You may notice that this toaster has no lever to push down the bread. That is because the bread lowers itself. I will try to simplify, because it is a little hard to visualize. When the bread is inserted it will slowly lower into the toaster, (toast), and then raise back up. Here's how it works. When the bread is inserted it pushes down on a small lever that turns on the toaster. When the toaster turns on, the wire, which is wrapped around the middle frame, expands. When the wire expands the flexible middle joint pulls up on a lever, connected to another lever, that lowers the bread down. 
Source: Technology Connections YouTube Channel

This toaster is also special because it doesn't toast bread by time, like other inferior toasters, but instead toasts it by temperature. Inside the toaster there is a metal strip that has adjustable tension set on it that snaps back when the temperature is hit. This triggers a switch that stops the toaster and allows the wire to shrink again, making the lever push the bread up again. 

The temperature switch. Source: Technology Connections
Source: Flickr

Lorenzo's Opinion: 

I think it's pretty funny that there is a community of people are devoted to a 70 year old toaster, but hey there are worse things. I thought it was pretty cool because no toaster I have seen today lowers the bread in automatically and makes toasting things so simple. On the toaster in my house I can never get things toasted right, it is either to dark or too light. So the fact that this toaster works by measuring the bread temp is pretty cool and makes for a better toasting "experience." I found this toaster one day looking at my YouTube feed and saw a video titled: "The Antique Toaster that's Better than Yours." Naturally being a man of culture, I clicked on the video. (who wouldn't lets be honest). So, I guess the moral of the story is, sometimes weird YouTube recommendations might be right after all. 

My explanation might be a little hard to follow, because you can only do so much with words so....

Here, of course, is the excellent YouTube video that started it all. I recommend you watch it.
To see how it works skip to 7:54. To see the toaster actually working skip to around 8:50.
  
 

I give the Sunbeam Radiant Control Toaster: A Thumbs Up  👍 ..... I mean, I kinda want one now.

TidBit:

Today's TidBit is again a weird headline. Here it is: 

Ousted New Hampshire police chief heads home in underwear after turning in guns and uniform

He is reported to have been "stripped of his duties" and walked through a snow storm after having his uniform taken. It was on Fox News......  I mean...It has to be true.



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