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Burnt toast leads to thoughts of the old days, appliances with character
By JOY STEPHENSON Examiner contributor
I burned the toast this morning and the unfortunate event brought back many memories. The reason I burned the bread to a black crisp was that my toaster oven of about 20 years refused to toast any longer, forcing me to use the oven broiler. One might say the toaster retired. For all those years, the little oven had neatly browned bread, cooked wieners, toasted buns, baked potatoes, cooked tater tots, French fries and chicken nuggets.
I retired it once before, when my children presented me with a new one, but the newer version promptly caught on fire and destroyed itself. One might say it committed suicide. When the new toaster passed away, I dug out the old one and placed it on active duty, sort of like calling up the National Guard.
It was a workhorse and a blessing on hot summer days when the cook did not want to use the oven. It was used even more when gas prices erupted into a volcano of cost and propane followed suit. I miss it. I am searching for another just like it.
The deceased was a Black and Decker. It looked disreputable, like an old drunk or druggie who has had a rough life, but I loved it anyway. I knew it was not healthy so I pampered it with lots of cleaning and easy tasks, to no avail. It still looked awful.
With the toaster's demise, it is necessary to prepare toast under the broiler in the oven. I remember my mother toasting bread this way before the time of drop-the-bread-in-a-slot toasters. I seem to remember an earlier toaster with doors which opened and bread placed against some wires. There is a timer on the oven broiler, but busy with eggs and hash browns, I forgot to set it. Thus there was black toast.
I was reaching for the blackened bread to toss it into the trash when I remembered what my mother did when toast burned. She scraped it with a knife, over the kitchen sink, until the burned black part was gone and it became once again an acceptable piece of toast. I remembered and scraped my toast until it became nice looking and edible. I ate it and was proud. This was not a frugal gesture but a return to the World War II motto, only remembered by old people, of "Use it up. Make it do. Wear it out."
Americans were urged to be thrifty and avoid buying new stuff thereby saving raw materials and labor for use in the war. Appliances were actually repaired. That motto died along with Hitler and Mussolini when we became a throwaway society. Perhaps we could revive it on the grounds of our doubtful global warming. We would certainly save energy if we didn't throw away appliances and bread.
Appliances were once treasured by homeowners, taken care of, kept clean and polished. Current generation people toss them out for a new one with more bells and whistles. I remember my first washing machine. It came into my home along with the first baby. Up until that point, laundry was done by a company whose driver called once a week. Sheets, work clothes, towels and clothing were counted and bundled into a knot-tied sheet for the driver to pick them up. They came back two days later clean, folded and wrapped.
The new washing machine had a window in front. I never understood why but babies of a proper age could be placed in a high chair to watch the wet clothes tumble around. They were mesmerized by the dancing sheets and towels. This may be why they all have peculiarities today. Television soon replaced the washer window as entertainment. Placing babies to watch laundry was better than placing them in front of a television.
Americans will likely continue to replace appliances not only when they break down but when a newer or shinier one comes along. We will always toss out the burnt toast. However, those of us who remember our pioneer forebears may choose to be thrifty and nonconformist. Today, I am an adamant black toast scraper. Tomorrow, however, I reserve the right to search for a brand new toaster in the aisles of Wal-Mart.
Stephenson can be reached at jstephenson73@hotmail.com.
I retired it once before, when my children presented me with a new one, but the newer version promptly caught on fire and destroyed itself. One might say it committed suicide. When the new toaster passed away, I dug out the old one and placed it on active duty, sort of like calling up the National Guard.
It was a workhorse and a blessing on hot summer days when the cook did not want to use the oven. It was used even more when gas prices erupted into a volcano of cost and propane followed suit. I miss it. I am searching for another just like it.
The deceased was a Black and Decker. It looked disreputable, like an old drunk or druggie who has had a rough life, but I loved it anyway. I knew it was not healthy so I pampered it with lots of cleaning and easy tasks, to no avail. It still looked awful.
With the toaster's demise, it is necessary to prepare toast under the broiler in the oven. I remember my mother toasting bread this way before the time of drop-the-bread-in-a-slot toasters. I seem to remember an earlier toaster with doors which opened and bread placed against some wires. There is a timer on the oven broiler, but busy with eggs and hash browns, I forgot to set it. Thus there was black toast.
I was reaching for the blackened bread to toss it into the trash when I remembered what my mother did when toast burned. She scraped it with a knife, over the kitchen sink, until the burned black part was gone and it became once again an acceptable piece of toast. I remembered and scraped my toast until it became nice looking and edible. I ate it and was proud. This was not a frugal gesture but a return to the World War II motto, only remembered by old people, of "Use it up. Make it do. Wear it out."
Americans were urged to be thrifty and avoid buying new stuff thereby saving raw materials and labor for use in the war. Appliances were actually repaired. That motto died along with Hitler and Mussolini when we became a throwaway society. Perhaps we could revive it on the grounds of our doubtful global warming. We would certainly save energy if we didn't throw away appliances and bread.
Appliances were once treasured by homeowners, taken care of, kept clean and polished. Current generation people toss them out for a new one with more bells and whistles. I remember my first washing machine. It came into my home along with the first baby. Up until that point, laundry was done by a company whose driver called once a week. Sheets, work clothes, towels and clothing were counted and bundled into a knot-tied sheet for the driver to pick them up. They came back two days later clean, folded and wrapped.
The new washing machine had a window in front. I never understood why but babies of a proper age could be placed in a high chair to watch the wet clothes tumble around. They were mesmerized by the dancing sheets and towels. This may be why they all have peculiarities today. Television soon replaced the washer window as entertainment. Placing babies to watch laundry was better than placing them in front of a television.
Americans will likely continue to replace appliances not only when they break down but when a newer or shinier one comes along. We will always toss out the burnt toast. However, those of us who remember our pioneer forebears may choose to be thrifty and nonconformist. Today, I am an adamant black toast scraper. Tomorrow, however, I reserve the right to search for a brand new toaster in the aisles of Wal-Mart.
Stephenson can be reached at jstephenson73@hotmail.com.
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