Glacially eroded outcrop of jaspilite (banded iron) formation, Sudan Underground State Park. Photograph by James St. John, June 10, 2015. CC BY-SA 2.0

Charles Perkins Strite was tired of burnt toast. So the Minnesota inventor set out to do something about it. Britt Aamodt offers up a tale of a new kind of toaster.

Toastmaster advertisement printed in Ladies’ Home Journal, 1959. Object ID 2008.122.26 from the collections of The Henry Ford, Dearborn, Michigan.

The interior of Herman's Lunch Counter (16 South Ninth Street, Minneapolis). The cook at center (possibly Willmer L. Lee) operates a Toastmaster toaster. Photograph by Norton and Peel, July 19, 1955.

Magazine advertisement for the Toastmaster toaster, 1955. Object ID 2008.122.7 from the collections of The Henry Ford, Dearborn, Michigan.

Flier advertising "The Most Distinctly Different Toaster in the World, The Sensational New Toastmaster," 1953. Object ID 94.62.106.2 from the collections of The Henry Ford, Dearborn, Michigan.

Part of a flier (cropped from the original) advertising the "New DeLuxe Toastmaster Toast & Jam Set," 1953. Object ID 94.62.106.4 from the collections of The Henry Ford, Dearborn, Michigan.

Segment of a Toastmaster advertisement (cropped from the original) printed in the Saturday Evening Post, ca. 1940s. From box 6 (148.F.4.2F) of the MacMartin Advertising Agency records, 1905–1980. Manuscripts Collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul.

Segment of a Toastmaster advertisement, 1935. Cropped from the original. From box 6 (148.F.4.2F) of the MacMartin Advertising Agency records, 1905–1980. Manuscripts Collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul.

Segment of a Toastmaster advertisement, undated. From box 6 (148.F.4.2F) of the MacMartin Advertising Agency records, 1905–1980. Manuscripts Collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul.