Annkh--I loved your post. I am also a fan of antique toasters. I posted a picture of my 1930 Sunbeam flatbead in my 'almost done' thread. I tried to link the picture here.

These old toasters are amazing. Never let that one go!

If you are interested, there is a website (ToasterCentral dot com) where you can look at and buy lots of antique toasters. He sells at a local flea market. That's where I bought mine.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sunbeam flatbed toaster

I don't know that I'd go out and buy one, but I'm sure glad I have it! I often think of my grandma when I make toast, even though she's been gone for over 20 years.

I have her cast iron frying pans, too. Lucky me!

annkh, I'm with you.
Our '50s era Toastmaster Model 1B14, stands proudly on our counter.
It's our only toaster and gets used a few time each month.
Here's a shot.
Not of ours, but of the same model.

Those Sunbeam automatic radiant toasters are probably the best toaster ever made. They were still making them up until the 80's. I have about 5 versions of them in my collection . There is a good website that shows you have to adjust it if ever need be.. a little screw on the bottom but don't play with it if everythings working fine.

I have one like the sunbeam. I also have 2 in reserve or to give away. nycbluedevil, love your toaster.

I looked at it when I got home - it's a Model T20-A, which puts it at 1950 to 1952.

I had the same feeling about mine that appears to be identical to yours annkh. When I was rewiring some of our old house, I ran a 20 amp circuit into our "dinette area" so that the toaster could be out on the table. Unfortunately, in our new house, DW has relegated it to our appliance corral but it still makes perfect toast every day.

And what a coincidence, I also had the identical flatbed toaster that came from my 'aunt'. I liked it because it was old but was happy to give it up because it was a great way to burn toast. At least, that was before smoke alarms were common.

I am interested in buying one of the Sunbeam automatic radiant toasters - but I toast a lot of artisan breads - which is usually more of a free form or boule shape, not the same shape as ordinary sandwich loaf - will it handle that type of bread?

Depends.

Depends on how you slice and trim the bread and how inconvenient you find that. And on how old a toaster you buy.

My vintage 1960s Sunbeam Automatic (toaster, not the sportscar, lol) was designed for the era of 4"x4"x1/2" Wonderbread and maybe Thomas Bakeries English muffins. Now, it has "issues" with regular store-bought bagels, never mind the various sizes of homemade breads that I bake. Although the old Sunbeam still toasts reasonably well, I find it less convenient than a new Sunbeam toaster from Costco. The old one is mainly decoration these days. YMMV.

This post was edited by JWVideo on Tue, Apr 2, 13 at 17:52

I'm with JW barry; I'm afraid that most odd breads don't easily fit the old toaster. I can do bagels in it, but they get crammed in and yanked out. It is certainly not the elegant action that one would want. Other breads are so long that only part is exposed to the heat.

Thanks for the info. It looks like a neat toaster, and I can slice the bread pretty thin, but was worried that you really need a Wonder Bread sized bread to make it work.

nycblue: I bought my toastmaster toaster, toastmaster 2D2 waffle iron, Dominion waffle iron and an English Electric kettle from Micheal.
LOVE the toaster, the waffle maker was fantastic the 1st and 3rd time out of 4, I need to perfect my technique(batter + timing) I can't use the kettle until I bring it overseas but it is so clean and well built so I'm sure it works fine.
I toast whole wheat sliced bread(round loaf)I flip the slices half way through. For me it's worth it. When I toast hand cut bread I bring out the toaster oven...