Being a harmonica enthusiast isn’t the only thing I have in common with Elwood Blues. I also love me some toasted bread, though I actually prefer egg challah with sweet butter and strawberry preserves, to dry, white toast. To make toast these days, most folks either use a toaster oven, which to me seems like overkill for just a couple of slices, or a pop-up electric toaster. While both of those will char bread quite adequately, I prefer to use the best bread toaster ever made, a Sunbeam Radiant Control toaster, in my case a model T-35, made sometime between 1958 and 1967, close to my own vintage.
While America was busy making rockets and inventing solid state integrated circuits to put men on the moon, an appliance company was using basic physics and mechanics to make an automatic toaster the likes of which has never been improved upon.
“Automatic?” you may ask. Isn’t every pop-up toaster you can buy at Target’s housewares section automatic? Don’t they pop up your toast automatically when it is done? Well, yes, they do, rather suddenly and violently compared to the T-35’s genteel action, but you first have to put the bread in and depress the plunger to lower the bread into the toaster, which puts tension on the lifting springs, and energizes the heating elements. An electromagnetic latch releases when a mechanical timer, bimetal thermostat, or logic circuit decides that the toast is done to your setting. You provide all the force needed, and you turn on the toaster.
A cool piece of kit, no doubt, but compared to a Sunbeam Radiant Control toaster even the most modern, digitally controlled pop-up toaster is Model T primative when put up against the the SRC’s mechanical elegance. You see, with the Sunbeam Radiant Control toaster, you just set your slice of bread (or bagel, this old school toaster has slots that can accommodate fairly thick slices) in the slot, adjust the doneness setting, and the toaster does the rest. The bread goes down automatically, the heating elements turn on and toast your bread, which then rises, quietly and gently, when done.
Here’s a short video of the Radiant Control toaster in action. After the bread is lowered, you can skip to about 40 seconds in to watch the magic happen as it shuts off and raises the toast.
Isn’t that cool? When you’re half awake and waiting for your coffee to brew would you rather be startled by the jarring, spring loaded action of a pop-up toaster, or be gently alerted by a quiet click, followed by your toast being elevated, as gentle as sunrise?
Impressively, the technology was developed back in the 1930s and 1940s and even more impressively, it uses no motors or solenoids. The Radiant Control toaster was the creation of a prolific inventor named Ludvik J. Koci, who worked for Sunbeam and its antecedant company for 37 years. According to his obituary, he also invented and held patents on an early electric iron, Sunbeam’s first electric coffee percolator, and the first electric frying pan, along with electric shavers and electric blankets. He also experimented with electric cars in his 60s. His son, Ludvik Frank Koci, had a long career as an engineer and executive at General Motors, eventually running its Detroit Diesel subsidiary.
Ironically, and erroneously, in that obituary, Koci’s daughter refered to his invention as the “Sunbeam Toastmaster”. Toastmaster was a brand name of the McGraw Electric company, a Sunbeam competitor, which introduced the first automatic pop-up toaster in 1926. As far as I’ve been able to determine, Sunbeam never used the Toastmaster brand for Koci’s invention nor did it license the technology to McGraw.
Everything in the Radiant Control toaster works because of physics and mechanical levers, not powered motive devices. The bread is lowered by its own weight, which also triggers a lever operated power contact that turns on the heating elements. One might think that the weight of the bread also compresses a spring to be used to raise the toast, but that’s not how Sunbeam did it. Instead the toaster uses the force of the contracting ni-chrome heating elements as they cool after toasting, multiplied through classic levers, to raise the finished product. They shrink just a small amount, but with the correct leverage, you can do some amazing things. It all works perfectly and quietly and must have greatly impressed consumers when introduced in 1949 as the T-20. Just a few years earlier they or their parents may have been toasting bread on manual, exposed element toasters that required physically flipping the bread to toast the other side.
If that’s not impressive enough, the amount of toasting is controlled by the actual temperature of the bread surface, which was measured to be directly proportional to the amount of toasting accomplished to that point. A bimetal thermostat, insulated from the heat of the elements, is aimed at the surface of the bread. When the bread reaches the correct temperature for the doneness setting, the thermostat releases a latch, disconnecting power to the heating elements, starting the lifting part of the cycle.
There’s not a motor, thermistor, or logic circuit in sight, just clever and brilliant mid-century American engineering.
To get a more detailed idea of how the Sunbeam Radiant Control toaster works, check out the video at the head of this post from Technology Connections on YouTube. He has another video on how to upgrade a SRC with a safer, grounded power cord, and also how to adjust tension on the lowering/lifting mechanism for proper operation. Since this is the 21st century, of course there is a community of Radiant Control enthusiasts, with their own website, Automatic Beyond Belief, the tagline Sunbeam used to introduce their new toaster back in 1949.
Sunbeam started out in 1897 as the Chicago Flexible Shaft Company, which introduced a new crank-driven sheep shearer and then moved into consumer goods. In the 1920s they introduced the “Princess” electric iron under their new Sunbeam brand and in the 1930s, chief designer, Ivar Jepsen, created the Mixmaster mixer, with its novel detachable interlocking blades, a huge success. After World War II, rightly expecting a postwar boom in consumer goods, the company rebranded itself Sunbeam.
Perhaps the most amazing thing about the Sunbeam Radiant Control is not how automatically it works without powered mechanisms, or how uniformly it toasts your bread, it’s that if you want one, you have to buy it used on eBay or Craigslist for between about $50 to $100, or inherit one from your mom or grandmother. The best toaster ever made has curiously been out of production for over two decades. Maybe it isn’t as profitable to make and sell as more primitive pop-up toasters are.
Sunbeam stopped making the Radiant Control in 1997, after nearly 50 years of continuous production. That’s a lot of wedding gifts. A chrome and bakelite mid-century classic, with an exterior designed by Robert Davol Budlong and built like the proverbial tank, the biggest change in that time seems to have been moving the doneness control from a knob underneath one of the bakelite side handles, to a lever at the bottom of the front panel which also incorporated a stop switch to manually end toasting.
While the Radiant Control toaster went out of production in 1997, the latest patent used in its manufacture was issued in 1957. That patent expired no later than 1974. That means the technology and designs are in the public domain and there is nothing to stop someone from putting it back into production. The design is sound. When a product stays in production for a half century without changing the basic design, think Fender Telecaster or Zippo Lighter, it’s likely lasting for a reason. It’s also a reliable design. My T-35 is at least 52 years old and works just fine. Will any toaster, even any appliance sold today at Target last 52 years?
Well, maybe the UK made Dualit toaster will last a half century or more, but charming and durable as the Dualit is, the bread in the Dualit is lowered and raised with a mechanical lever. Also, a two slice Dualit Classic will cost you $180 at Target, far more than a vintage Sunbeam Radiant Control in even pristine operating condition will run you.
The T-35 is also a relatively powerful toaster. Most modern two slice toasters are rated at 800-900 watts, and four slice toasters at no more than 1,800 watts which is the maximum power a 15 amp household circuit will supply. It looks like 450 watts per slice is the modern standard. The two slice Sunbeam T-35 is rated at 1,275 watts, over 600 watts per slice, so it will also toast your bread faster than almost any modern toaster. Admittedly that comes with increased energy costs, but who can put a value on time? A Radiant Control toaster is also more entertaining.
As millenials and others embrace mid-century design and older, more “authentic” technologies like safety razors and vinyl recordings, it’s surprising that nobody has seized upon this opportunity to use that aesthetic to reintroduce an abandoned, yet superior toasting technology. Heck, some Chinese company could do it without even having to steal any tech at all. People raised in the digital age might just like to have a genuinely automatic toaster.
Very cool. My circa-1975 Mary Proctor toaster is still working perfectly, going on seventeen years now.
Enjoyed. The only feature of modern toasters I’ve appreciated is the ‘bagel’ setting, and not one has ever had a properly designed crumb tray.
Thank you .
The engineering in this is a good example of why the U.S.A. used to lead the world in design and manufacturing .
So much new crap is poorly engineered and cannot last long, no one cares, they just go out and buy !! NEW !! .
We’re not allowed to have a toaster because Foster kids, weird IMO .
-Nate
Nate, re: “We’re not allowed to have a toaster because Foster kids, weird IMO,” would you please explain?
It’s nanny thinking gone wild :
They’re not allowed to have a toaster because they might stick a knife in it trying to loosen stuck bread and thence get electrocuted or burned .
Of course, they’re not allowed to have knives anyway but those who make up the stupid endless ‘cants’ don’t think very much .
Not supposed to ever call them “Foster” either in spite of them liking the knowledge that Foster care is usually the first place they’ve ever not been beaten, burned, abused and so on .
They’d like us to never use the word “no” because “it might hinder their self esteem” ~ not surprisingly the entire system is run by the most hostile women you’ll ever meet ~ you’d think I have a ‘free puppies inside’ van parked out front by the way they act towards me .
Our boys all tell me (even the incorrigible one like the 18YO who burned us out of our house two years ago & then tried to cheat the insurance co. for “monies lost in the fire”) that I’m the only person they know who talks to them directly and honestly .
When I was a young man I envied Foster kids because they at least got ‘three hots and a cot’ .
-Nate
I’ve been looking for a non-Chinese made toaster for a while now…can’t believe I’ve never heard of the Dualit before. It’s going on the list.
You had to pick that ass clown for your Youtube Video example.
He’s got one on how portable air conditioners are bad. No shit Captain Obvious. You go to Home Depot and you look at the EPA + BTU stickers of these and a regular window Air Conditioner and it tells you.
BUT, if you need an AC unit for a week or 2 a year and you need it on the 1st floor where the windows have easy access to break ins by pushing the window AC in, they are worth it. Efficient? No. Cheaper than central air or a Mitsubishi mounted outside even spread over years? Yeah. Does that matter to Captain Obvious? No.
I thought the clown looked familiar. When I heard his voice, I knew who he was.
I agree that his affect is somewhere between charming and off-putting, but it’s the best video I’ve found on the Sunbeam toaster.
He is not a clown. He is right and you are wrong.
Looks like you are a little butthurt because you own a mobile AC. He is right in that video though and he explains why mobile AC are less effective. And yeah, most people are quite “stupid” and do not know this. They only figure this out when they bought the mobile AC and experience it first hand.
That is one requirement we never had to worry about when we became foster parents. Weird, indeed.
The foster care system is a study in lopsided standards.
State to Foster Parents: Is your house constructed entirely out of flame-resistant, bacteria-resistant, soft-touch materials, is the water heater set to exactly 103.715 degrees, and have you replaced every utensil in your kitchen with spoons of various sizes and levels of utility? OK, you can take these kids while the biological parents make amends.
State to Biological Parents (after they took some classes and s#it): Does your house withstand a forceful exhalation from a rabid wolf of 95th-percentile mass, and does it have running water and/or heat at least two days a week? OK, here are your kids. Try harder this time not to kill them, mmkay?
Warned me it was a duplicate…didn’t show up. Posted again, and it’s a duplicate.
Edit/delete, wherefore art thou?
It’s all part of the “participation trophy” mentality .
If I listed all the things they tell us not to do you’d be flabbergasted .
I had one of those manual toasters in the last photo in the mid 1960’s, I thought it’d be cool to make my toast just as I liked it, what a PIA .
-Nate
I love this kind of column. Never knew that I was looking at a marvel of engineering growing up. Thank you!
I like the speed and power, can’t say I care about using a lever, and think I would miss the audio alert of the toast being done. I ran across one of these in my youth and was dismayed at the requirement to use a specified slot when only toasting one slice. That ability for a product to be used incorrectly or misunderstood is a drawback in the real world. Yes, it has “one slice” stamped on there, but needing instructions on the device is not exactly sublime design. Otherwise a very elegant design.
There’s a quiet click as the toaster turns off and begins the raise cycle. If you’re in the kitchen you can hear it.
“As millenials and others embrace mid-century design and older, more “authentic” technologies”
We went straight to the “manual turn” style toasters you referred to in the article.
One of my coworkers gave me a Mixmaster of the same vintage that he found on the side of the road. They used to build them to last back then.
In contrast, we binned the base of our elcheapy Sunbeam mixer the year after we bought it as the screw driving the plate that rotated the bowl was chewed completely by the metal gear in the pedestal.
I just picked up a t21b from the thrift store for$2 cause they couldn’t figure it out. Someone had spun the toast setting around a few times.
I watch a number of videos. Looks difficult to put back together if fully taken apart. The toast setting is completely accessible through the bottom by removing 4 screws. The knob pulls off and the sensor needs to be set close to toast as it comes down. Turn the shaft of the knob till it stops moving towards toast then reverse direction pulling it back maybe a quarter turn.
My question is this how much did these things cost in the store? What was the original price? Does anyone have thier ad?
Apparently these cost about $22.50 back in 1949 when they first came out. That doesn’t seem like much, but the average yearly income was about $3,100 (just less than $60 a week) making it very expensive. If you adjust for inflation, that is about $250 in 2020.
Since this article was written, the price for a used T-20 model has gone up significantly. A presentable one in good working condition can go for over $150 on eBay.
I just picked up a T-20B model (made in 1952 according to the date stamp) that looks and works great, and it cost me $175. This thing is FAR better than anything made today for less than that price.
I have a T-35 that I recently found in a box of stuff we packed up after my mother died in 2004 at age 90+. I had not looked in the box since then and found the toaster last week, Near perfect condition. I looked for a serial number — which on most appliances usually contains a two- or three-sequence date of manufacture, but could not find it. So where can I find the date stamp?
Thanks for your help. And keep on toasting!
Anybody want to buy toaster described above? No reasonable offer refused. Reply here.
Me .
I’m in So. Cal. , the editors have my E-mail address .
-Nate
Steve, still have this toaster by chance?
I was trying to recall how much i splurged in probably late 70s early 80s-ish…the price, either from Macy’s or maybe a now-defunct retail outlet known as Best Products Showroom, I feel like i must’ve paid about $49 which would’ve been a ridiculous amout in a time when you got a free toaster for opening up a bank acct. And nobody ever EVER paid more than $10 for a toaster. Ever.
My most recent “quality” toaster (intended to last another 30 years at least), was a Breville, 2 wide slot number, which my DH inadvertently murdered (dont ask), cost $125.00+ and weighed enough to double as a doorstop for an auto-closing Bank Vault door, should the need arise. It was pretty cool, with its “a bit more” button; but it was always a toaster that needed babysitting, flipping of bread halfway through, etc.
I *HAD* the coolest toaster EVER (Sunbeam), but it started acting up and I wanted a nice white plastic one like all the cool kids had. I think I sold Sunbeam at my garage sale for probably a few dollars; resist killing myself over that mistake almost daily, now. So now I will buy a refurb, if I can find one, and thank the Lord I can rely on OTHER PEOPLE to retain their common sense, and see what i miss because I’m busy complaining about it being in my way. (!)
SIGH .
I’m still looking for one .
-Nate
Bought mine in the 80’s. Still going strong! I thought I might replace it just for a change, and then found out there is nothing like it. Also, it seems that it will keep on working. I guess I;’ll have to leave it to someone in my will! lol
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The statement about the increased wattage per slice & the increase in the power bill is not exactly valid because it uses more watts because it toasts quicker. The amount of Kilowatt hours used should be close to the same for the same amount of doneness of toast.
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The toaster I have had in my kitchen for nearly 20 years is a circa-1950’s Radiant Heat Control toaster. When I got it my friends laughed at me defending such an old appliance, until I made some toast with it. They were amazed at the toast it made and stopped laughing.