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Ancient civilizations used fire to toast bread in order to keep it from growing mold and preserve it
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The romans brought back the idea of toasting from Egypt with devices that had been developed like wireframes or sticks
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Wood and coal stoves began to be created which made a need for a new toasting method
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Until 1905 when Albert Marsh created the material nichrome, fire was the main and only way to toast bread and other things. After his invention, people were able to bend the wire and create inventions like the first toaster.
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Frank Shailor developed the first toaster with General Electric called D-12. It was cage-like and had one heating element where it could only toast one side at a time. Since electricity was scarce, the electric toaster was only in restaurants to start.
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Before now, electric companies had started to offer 24-hour service and better toaster models were developed. The most innovative though was the first pop-up toaster by Charles Strite. It had a heating element to stop when the toast was done and pop up as well by a spring.
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The Waters-Genter company created a better design of the Strite toaster with a triple spring called Toastmaster. Though it had an issue with only toasting the first piece well.
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With lots of issues regarding inconsistencies in the toast and other food, Robert J. Salem from General Electric company created a temperature sensor so toast would be more even and easier.
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Over the 1980's, heat resistant plastics were created along with wider slots in toasters, curved edges that became popular for the design, and more slots.
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In the late 1980's, John Romkey and Simon Hackett created the first toaster connected to the internet, leading to the smart toaster being a popular term in advertising in the 21st century.
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In the early 2000's, smart toasters were given dual slots for more efficiency and faster heating. They were also created to have muffins, bagels, and more.
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Early 2000's models like Hamilton Beach, that was a toaster/oven/broiler mix, and Black Decker’s Versa-Toast 4-Slice model, which could do two different kinds of bread at once, came out.
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The Toaster Automatica by George Watson is an in progress design that started around the beginning of the century. It's considered the most up to date design even if not an official product.
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Future toasters are idealized to have scanning functions so bread can be automatically cooked to perfection and kill off any bacteria. They also may have slots for automatic jam and any other spread.