Design
By maintaining air gaps between the slices, the toast rack allows steam to escape from hot toast instead of condensing into adjacent slices and making them soggy. However, this increased air flow can also mean that the toast becomes cold more quickly.
The toast rack's design and shape follows prevailing fashion. The dividers were often made from silver wires and these in turn were soldered to either a wire-work or solid base that sat on four feet. Sometimes the base is separate and was used to dispose of any crumbs that fell. Some ingenious designs were made including expanding or folding types (so as to take up less space). Others had incorporated egg-cups or receptacles for jam or marmalade.
A designer renowned for his innovative take on the toast rack was Christopher Dresser (1834–1904), who studied at the Government School of Design in Glasgow from the age of 13 and is widely thought of as the 'father of modern design'.
Modern designs are often made from stamped and folded stainless steel sheet or from welded stainless wire.
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