Toast History

The ancient Egyptians, around 6000 years ago, were the first to develop the bread that we know today. They realised that if they let the bread sit out in Egypt's warm climate it would rise, and when baked would retain its risen shape.

Toasting bread in ancient times was a means of preserving it. The Romans spread the idea of toast throughout Europe, even into Britain, and the colonists brought toast to the Americas. The word 'toast,' in fact, comes from the Latin word tostum, meaning scorch or burn.

The Toaster

At first bread was toasted by holding it over a fire or by lying it on a hot stone. Some earlier toasters were wire frames that sat over a fireplace. The invention of electricity led to the invention of the modern toaster. Before the toaster could be built, however, a certain nickel-chromium alloy called ni-chrome had to be developed so that the toast could be heated. This is why the toaster arrived on the scene after other appliances.

The first toasters were produced in the early 1900s; the first commercially successful toaster appeared in 1909. The first automatic, or 'pop-up', toaster for the home was the Toastmaster, developed in 1926. There was even a knob that the user turned to determine the degree of darkness. The Toastmaster caused quite a stir, and along with the invention of sliced bread, it helped open the age of the automatic toaster. By the 1940s, most toasters were automatic.

Toast Today

Over the years toasters have become more commonplace and dull. Today most homes (92% in the UK, 88% in the US) have a toaster. There are a vast number of toast lovers in the world, and with the Internet they have found a new medium.

New interest has recently been aroused in a toast-related phenomenon involving Sods Law; it has been claimed throughout recent history that toast, when dropped, will always land buttered-side down.

The Future of Toast

Exciting new developments occur everyday involving the future of toast. Progress has been made in areas such as talking toasters that respond to voice commands regarding bread darkness. Some have even worked on a brilliant perpetual motion theory involving cats and buttered toast.  There is also word of a toaster that burns weather predictions into the side of your toast. It gets the predictions by means of an Internet connection.