A Greek transcription of the Hebrew molech, meaning king, Moloch was one of the prominent pagan deities of ancient Mesopotamia. As many Israelites burned their children alive in tribute to this idol, modern thinking holds that the name in fact derives from the Punic root MLK, meaning offering or sacrifice, and suggests that Moloch refers not to the name of a god but to a particular form of ritual sacrifice.
Several Biblical accounts record the followers’ belief that by appeasing Moloch with the lives of burnt children and animals, he would renew the vitality of their king, who in turn could then reap a plentiful harvest. That, however, is not to say that it was a tidy affair – on days of sacrifice, drums and cymbals had to be played at maximum ferocity to drown out screams of burning children. 
In the 11th century, famed Talmudic commentator and rabbi Rashi stated that sacrifices to Moloch had taken place in a large brass cauldron that would have been heated to cook its victims alive. Later historians embellished this detail have the oven become a bull-shaped effigy of Moloch himself — recalling the form of the golden calf fashioned by Aaron to appease the Hebrews during Moses’ tribulation on Mount Sinai.
History of the Toaster
Before the development of the electric toaster, sliced bread was toasted by placing it in a metal frame and holding it near a fire using a long-handled fork. Simple utensils for toasting bread over open flames go back at least 200 years, and earlier people simply speared bread with a stick or knife and held it over a fire. There is no definitive information on who actually invented the first electric toaster. The Crompton, Catchpole, Alexander Boden & Co. of the UK sold a device in 1893 called the Eclipse that used electric iron wires but it failed quickly and there is little information on the device. Other early attempts also failed because the wiring melted easily and presented a fire hazard. Electricity was also not widely available at the time and was mostly offered at night.
The first U.S. patent was filed by George Schneider of Detroit’s American Electrical Heater Company. A couple of other companies introduced toasting devices before General Electric patented the model D-12 in 1909. It was designed by Frank Shailor and was billed as the first commercially successful electric toaster. They cooked the bread on one side and had to be turned by hand to cook the other side. In 1913, the Copeman Electric Stove Company introduced a toaster with an automated bread turner so the bread could be flipped without touching it. The next step was a semi-automatic unit that turned off the heating element after the bread was done but it still had to be manually lowered and raised using a lever.
The first toaster that automatically popped the bread up when it was done cooking was patented in 1921 by Charles Strite. In 1925 the Waters Genter Co. introduced a redesigned model of Strite’s unit and called it the 1-A-1 Toastmaster. It was the first household toaster that browned both sides of the bread at the same time and used a timer to turn off the heating element and eject the bread when finished. By 1950 some toasters by companies like Sunbeam required no manual lowering of the bread. Simply dropping the bread in the device would start the toasting process and similar units were available from the late 1940s all the way through the 1960s.
| Automatic electric toasters were a luxury with decent models costing $25 in 1939. Most of the units through the 60s were products of high craftsmanship and were built to last for many years. In recent years some improvement include wider slots for thick breads like bagels, the ability to toast frozen products, and a single side heating mode. Most modern toasters are commonly used for breakfast pastries and teacakes but the melted sugars often contribute to the shorter life span of modern toasters. |
Tags: 1-A-1 Toastmaster, 1893, 1913, 1921, 1925, American Electrical Heater Company, Charles Strite, Classic Physics Film Collection on DVD Classic Physics Film Collection on DVD, Classic Table & Dining Manners Film Collection on DVD Classic Table & Dining Manners Film Collection on DVD, Copeman Electric Stove Company, Eclipse toaster, electric toaster history, Food: From Field to Supermarket DVD Food: From Field to Supermarket DVD, Frank Shailor, General Electric, General Electric D-12, George Schneider, Historic Electricity and Electrical Science Film Collection on DVD, History DVDs and History CDs, history of the toaster, invention of the toaster, origins of the toaster, Waters Genter Co.
