Episode 44 - Iron, Bricks & the Invention of Toast

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Listen to "044 Iron, Bricks & the Invention of Toast" on Spreaker.


I cannot tell you how startled I was to find people writing about their encounter with this wondrous new invention - toast.  But once that happened while I was reading up on the increase of hearth furniture as a result of the growth of the British Iron Industry - it rather stopped me in my tracks.

So I went and dug around in my mental closets.  And under not too many out of date T-shirt designs, I ran across this gem:

The Toaster Project by Thomas Thwaites.  



He has gone on to do lots of other stuff that considers the role of industry and globalization and how humans are reacting to it.

Some interesting snippets of his DYI toaster construction live on in these video clips.

One of the book series I read ages and ages ago that still echoes forward is Douglas Adams' Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy books.  His thoughts on the problems of how do I human without tech?  And similar threads that look at the wonders of the modern world we take for granted or try to wow others with come at the end of very long poles of things we do not understand.  In the case of the book Mostly Harmless it is the tech it takes to create toast.  In the 21st century plus, it's making a toaster.

In the 18th century it's what does it take that Toast becomes a thing people start doing.
And it's the cities, the bakeries, the multi room houses, the brick hearths that allow for these new fangled tiny fire places, and the rise of iron tech that means hearth forks... and then  Toasting Forks happen.

Plain hand-forged Iron model 
Brass ones would become popular later.






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