Toast-O-Lator

A fabulous garage sale find introduced us to the cult of the Toast-O-Lator. After the Girl Scout pancake breakfast we stopped at a garage sale at an old rotten single-wide trailer. The elderly owners used the trailer as an office and to store piles of junk. The Toast-O-Lator kept drawing me back, so I asked if they had an outlet to see if it worked. The elements glowed, but there was no sign that the toast would move as it was clearly intended to. I offered them a dollar which they accepted, and I gave them a dollar for three watches that needed batteries which they'd told Sam she could have.



Upon taking the cover off the Toast-O-Lator it was clear that it hadn't been used much. I cleaned it up and plugged it in and, by George, the teeth worked. It turns out that the toast advancement mechanism works intermittently, so I need to take the bottom apart and clean and oil it. Another fine project with my boy. But our internet research has revealed a hidden world.

The Toast-O-Lator is revered among toast preparation fetishists, and ours is clearly well preserved. Who could resist the portholes or the angled toast alignment wires that ensure uniformly browned toast. Google it! There are many toasterhead sites and much material available about the "Aristocrat of Toasters" including the patent drawings for the toast advancement mechanism. We have not invested in any Toast-O-Lator clothing or oven mitts. I also highly recommend a video on YouTube titled "The March of the Muffins." The next time you visit you are welcome to try it more than once, if necessary.

Click on the photo for the full size image to see the toast advancement teeth. They move in a clockwise elliptical path. The rightward motion comes with the teeth above the horizontal bars, so the teeth lift and move the toast to the right. The leftward motion is below the bars, so the toast takes a break and waits for the next lurch to the right.