The hosts are Springfielders Dick and Vicki Matthies, who say the general public can get a free look at historic toasters — and their eclectic collectors — from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Oct. 10, at the hotel.
“There will be hundreds” of antique toasters, said Dick Matthies, the group’s vice president.
“We never know what they’ll be bringing until they start unpacking the boxes,” said Vicky Matthies, membership chairwoman.
Although the group does havesome hardcore, maybe even crusty collectors, they tend to leaven their seriousness with sides of slapstick.
What other group would name its newsletter “The Saturday Evening Toast” or call its convention Octoasterfest?
Under a table
In 1981, when they moved into their home on Winding Trail off of Miracle Mile, the Matthieses weren’t collectors of any sort.
But a two-sided fireplace without mantles begged for decoration, so they snagged an antique toaster at the Clark County Antique Sale and Flea Market, just as conversation piece.
“That GE was one of the first that I found for 50 cents under a table,” Dick Matthies said.
“Then you see another that’s different. Then you see another,” he added. “And you’ve got a collection.”
The couple has about 200 toasters in a collection whose bread and butter is non-electric models and toy toasters.
The primitives were designed to toast bread in front of a fire place or atop wood or coal-fired stoves.
The more advanced models mechanically turn the toast so both sides can be cooked and fingers can remain uncooked.
In contrast to the dull metal primitives, the toy toasters tend to be brightly colored. Many in the Matthieses’ collection were made by the Ohio Art Company of Bryan, makers of the Etch A Sketch.
AC/DC models
“Electric appliances of all sorts took off in 1908 because of the invention of nichrome wire,” Dick Matthies explained.
Nichrome is a nickel-chromium blend “which would glow red hot without being burned up.”
Although most were originally powered from the single AC electric wires hanging from a kitchen ceiling, some AC/DC toasters were manufactured for use in rural homes with DC power generated by windmills.
There’s even a travel toaster that gets its power from the car battery.
In their early collecting days, the Matthieses were able to pick up for toasters for “seven, eight, nine dollars,” Vicki said. But since the wide distribution of price guides, prices have risen like kneaded bread.
“We’re thrilled when we get something for 25 or 30 dollars,” she said.
Most of their toasters are in the $10 to $100 range, but the range of collecting specialities is nearly unlimited.
One member favors Ohio-made toasters. Another tends toward a colorful German line. Many collect toaster table sets that combine a toaster, trays and dishes in a serving set.
“If you wanted to collect Art Deco style,” Vicky Matthies said, there are plenty to look for in flea markets and antiques shops.
For the record
For the historical record, Dick Matthies points out that sliced bread was developed in 1928 by the Wonder Bread folks.
And just so you’re forewarned:To the people converging on Springfield this weekend, toasters undoubtedly are the best thing since.
Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0368 or tstafford@coxohio.com.
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