© Mark Ollig
Numerous articles describing technology we may be using during the 2020s have been written.
Today, I decided on a different theme.
Let us look back at some of the technology developed during the 1920s.
In 1920, World War I had been over for two years, and people were enjoying the fruits of victory, which included using newly-invented electronic devices.
The same year, the first handheld electric hair dryers were being sold to the public by National Stamping and Electric Works, under the name White Cross Band.
In 1920, 35 percent of American housing units owned a telephone; people could now instantly communicate with each other over great distances.
The same year found automobiles outnumbering the horses and buggies. Ford Model T autos and trucks were traveling long distances over improved roads.
May 5, 1920, Detroit Police Officer William Potts invented the traffic light.
The evening of Nov. 2, 1920, the first commercial radio station began its public broadcast.
KDKA, out of Pittsburg, PA started its radio transmission of the live election results of the Warren G. Harding versus James M. Cox US presidential election (which Harding won). A future president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was Cox’s running mate.
Minnesota lays claim to fame for inventing the first automatic “pop-up” toaster in 1921, by Charles P. Strite, who was born in Minneapolis.
While working in Stillwater, Strite noticed the toast served in a local cafeteria was mostly burned.
Back then, a person needed to monitor the bread being toasted and remove it from the toasting device, such as a wired frame over an open flame, before it burned.
Strite started work on a machine that would automatically stop heating the bread once it was toasted and eject it from the toasting device.
He added heating elements, so both sides of a slice of bread were toasted at the same time.
When the timer turned off the electricity, a mechanical spring ejected, or “popped up,” the finished toast, thus, no more burned toast.
Oct. 18, 1921, Strite received US Patent No. 1,394,450 for his “Bread-Toaster” device, which became known as the Toastmaster.
The Toastmaster was first sold only to restaurants.
Several model types were manufactured, including one that toasted 12 slices of bread simultaneously. This model weighed 65 pounds and consumed 5,500 watts of power.
Strite’s company, Waters-Genter of Minneapolis, began selling the first automatic pop-up household toaster under the name Toastmaster in 1926.
One commonly-sold model was the four-slice Toastmaster, which weighed 32 pounds and cost $100.
Strite’s original company became Toastmaster, Inc. It was acquired by Salton, Inc. in 1999, which also owns the rights to the George Foreman Grill.
So, when you are having your toast this morning, thank fellow Minnesotan Charles Perkins Strite.
Check out Strite’s Bread-Toaster US Patent at: https://tinyurl.com/MNToast
In 1922, folks were driving their new Ford Model T Roadster to the “picture places” (movie theaters), comprised of art deco architecture, luxuriously-lined marble walls, plush carpeted floors, and smartly-dressed uniformed ushers. These picture places featured silent movies and/or vaudeville acts.
In 1923, the first bulldozer with a dirt-pushing blade attached to its front was invented by J. Earl McLeod and James Cummings in Morrowville, KS.
Using a manual 3-speed, 4-cylinder inline engine Ford Motor Company Fordson tractor, the bulldozer was used for plowing fields, moving dirt, stones, rubble, and other objects.
The bulldozer’s blade was made from oak with reinforced iron and a metal blade running along the bottom.
This blade was lifted using a heavy spring, powered by an air-motor. The bulldozer frame was made from Ford Model T parts.
Dec. 14, 1926, Robert Goddard, who is considered the father of modern rocketry, invented the first liquid-fueled rocket, which he successfully launched March 16 of the same year. The flight reached an altitude of 41 feet, and reached speeds of about 60 mph. The rocket’s propellants were liquid oxygen and gasoline.
In 1927, the Ford Motor Company’s Model A automobile went on sale. The Model A replaced the Model T (no longer being manufactured), and included a safety glass windshield, four-wheel brakes, and hydraulic shock absorbers. It also featured Ford’s iconic blue, oval logo badge.
The first commercial international transatlantic telephone call took place from New York to London Jan. 7, 1927.
“Television for the Home” was the headline on the front page of the April 1928 Popular Mechanics Magazine. A photo showed a wooden television box with a 3-inch-square viewing aperture, along with two parents and their four children looking intently at the tiny television screen.
The year 1928 saw the first bread-slicing machine, invented by Otto Frederick.
In 1929, the first commercially-successful mass-produced car radios were being installed.
Paul Galvin is credited with the start of the public’s fascination with having a car radio.
The first production car radio model was called a 5T71, but Galvin wanted a better-sounding name for it and decided on Motorola.
In 1930, he began the Motorola company.
Numerous articles describing technology we may be using during the 2020s have been written.
Today, I decided on a different theme.
Let us look back at some of the technology developed during the 1920s.
In 1920, World War I had been over for two years, and people were enjoying the fruits of victory, which included using newly-invented electronic devices.
The same year, the first handheld electric hair dryers were being sold to the public by National Stamping and Electric Works, under the name White Cross Band.
In 1920, 35 percent of American housing units owned a telephone; people could now instantly communicate with each other over great distances.
The same year found automobiles outnumbering the horses and buggies. Ford Model T autos and trucks were traveling long distances over improved roads.
May 5, 1920, Detroit Police Officer William Potts invented the traffic light.
The evening of Nov. 2, 1920, the first commercial radio station began its public broadcast.
KDKA, out of Pittsburg, PA started its radio transmission of the live election results of the Warren G. Harding versus James M. Cox US presidential election (which Harding won). A future president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was Cox’s running mate.
Minnesota lays claim to fame for inventing the first automatic “pop-up” toaster in 1921, by Charles P. Strite, who was born in Minneapolis.
While working in Stillwater, Strite noticed the toast served in a local cafeteria was mostly burned.
Back then, a person needed to monitor the bread being toasted and remove it from the toasting device, such as a wired frame over an open flame, before it burned.
Strite started work on a machine that would automatically stop heating the bread once it was toasted and eject it from the toasting device.
He added heating elements, so both sides of a slice of bread were toasted at the same time.
When the timer turned off the electricity, a mechanical spring ejected, or “popped up,” the finished toast, thus, no more burned toast.
Oct. 18, 1921, Strite received US Patent No. 1,394,450 for his “Bread-Toaster” device, which became known as the Toastmaster.
The Toastmaster was first sold only to restaurants.
Several model types were manufactured, including one that toasted 12 slices of bread simultaneously. This model weighed 65 pounds and consumed 5,500 watts of power.
Strite’s company, Waters-Genter of Minneapolis, began selling the first automatic pop-up household toaster under the name Toastmaster in 1926.
One commonly-sold model was the four-slice Toastmaster, which weighed 32 pounds and cost $100.
Strite’s original company became Toastmaster, Inc. It was acquired by Salton, Inc. in 1999, which also owns the rights to the George Foreman Grill.
So, when you are having your toast this morning, thank fellow Minnesotan Charles Perkins Strite.
Check out Strite’s Bread-Toaster US Patent at: https://tinyurl.com/MNToast
In 1922, folks were driving their new Ford Model T Roadster to the “picture places” (movie theaters), comprised of art deco architecture, luxuriously-lined marble walls, plush carpeted floors, and smartly-dressed uniformed ushers. These picture places featured silent movies and/or vaudeville acts.
In 1923, the first bulldozer with a dirt-pushing blade attached to its front was invented by J. Earl McLeod and James Cummings in Morrowville, KS.
Using a manual 3-speed, 4-cylinder inline engine Ford Motor Company Fordson tractor, the bulldozer was used for plowing fields, moving dirt, stones, rubble, and other objects.
The bulldozer’s blade was made from oak with reinforced iron and a metal blade running along the bottom.
This blade was lifted using a heavy spring, powered by an air-motor. The bulldozer frame was made from Ford Model T parts.
Dec. 14, 1926, Robert Goddard, who is considered the father of modern rocketry, invented the first liquid-fueled rocket, which he successfully launched March 16 of the same year. The flight reached an altitude of 41 feet, and reached speeds of about 60 mph. The rocket’s propellants were liquid oxygen and gasoline.
In 1927, the Ford Motor Company’s Model A automobile went on sale. The Model A replaced the Model T (no longer being manufactured), and included a safety glass windshield, four-wheel brakes, and hydraulic shock absorbers. It also featured Ford’s iconic blue, oval logo badge.
The first commercial international transatlantic telephone call took place from New York to London Jan. 7, 1927.
“Television for the Home” was the headline on the front page of the April 1928 Popular Mechanics Magazine. A photo showed a wooden television box with a 3-inch-square viewing aperture, along with two parents and their four children looking intently at the tiny television screen.
The year 1928 saw the first bread-slicing machine, invented by Otto Frederick.
In 1929, the first commercially-successful mass-produced car radios were being installed.
Paul Galvin is credited with the start of the public’s fascination with having a car radio.
The first production car radio model was called a 5T71, but Galvin wanted a better-sounding name for it and decided on Motorola.
In 1930, he began the Motorola company.
