Gary's Third Pottery Blog

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Gary's third pottery blog

WRITE TO ME! garyrith@yahoo.com Come see me! Open studio HERE! November 25-26 (11-4 each day); Aurora Art and Design, daily until 12/24; Cooperstown Art Assoc. daily until 12/24; Ellis Hollow Community Fair, 12/10; December 10, Little Red Wagon at the Space at Greenstar. All material on this blog unless stated otherwise is copyright Gary Edward Rith 2016

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Time warp Tuesday: DEATH of an old friend....



You know Jen runs time warp Tuesday, right?  A chance to share old pics?  I have a different take this week.  A new pic, but a very verrrrrry old toaster....which caught fire and died yesterday.  My fire extinguisher was close to hand, but yanking the plug out of the wall did it.  Maybe it was just a VERY BRIGHT shortout that looked like flames?  No matter. It was over in less than a second, but never take cooking or appliances or anything for granted, right?  Be careful out there!

ANYWAY.  I have had this toaster 25 years!  It has served me well, and I thought it would be fun to trace its history with me, and it way predates my married life.
I bought it in Marshall Fields in Chicago in 1988 because it had a new innovation, a wide slot so you could toast bagels or bread!
At that time I was a graduate student in special education at University of Illinois, Chicago, and Marshall Fields had just redone the store, with a FINE new kitchen section in the basement.  I lived on North Broadway, a couple blocks from Lake Michigan.
It moved with me a couple blocks south, to Carmen St in 1990, then in 1991 we moved to Briar St near Wrigley Field...and me and the wife and toaster and my bachelor cat got together soon thereafter!  What a great little family...and there was, usefully, a tremendous bagel joint around the corner that I loved.
The toaster and I...and my cat Sammy....moved down to the wife's apartment in 1992 when we got married.  I had graduated with my masters by then and had taught since 1990 at Lighthouse for the Blind, which was quite near the wife's apartment, which was in Little Italy, surrounded by University of Illinois Chicago.  We looked out the window and had a million dollar view of the Sears Tower...a good 2 bedroom apartment for 350 a month!
We got into sourdough.  There were 2 Boudin sourdough bakeries in Chicago's Loop   and we would get these big and beautiful rounds.  My toaster turned out ideal, again, because it was not only wide for bagels, but could take really Looooooong slices too.  We added Petey the dog to the family.
The toaster and the rest of our little family moved to Massachusetts to teach in 1994.
Our village was so utterly small...but it had a liquor store and....bagel shop!  We got the day old bagels and kept that toaster busy, which remained true when we moved to New Hampshire in 1997.  By 1999 we had 3 dogs and 2 cats, same wife and SAME TOASTER.
There was a great bagel joint in Concord, NH...and again, we would fill our freezer with day old bagels and keep the toaster busy every day.
Fast forward to 2006....the toaster is dirty and OLD and full of crumbs, but finds a nice place to hang out on the counter here in Ithaca.
We are down to one cat and one dog...same wife, SAME TOASTER.
I do not buy bagels much, instead as you might notice I bake all kinds of things.  BUT, for example, with its dying breath, as it were, the toaster was ideal for toasting BIG and THICK slices of Irish soda bread...which I am about to have for breakfast...cold :(

In other news, I had a dream 2 weeks ago, and this black mug was in it.  Carved base, wide handle.  I woke up and tried to make it.  First is on the left, 3rd on the right....got it right the third time! (a friend saw them Saturday and asked how they differed, they look the same, and I said "the third one is a little taller and a little narrower at the base, more like the one I dreamt--potters have a DAMN good eye for sizing things up, like, maybe also carpenters etc)  I LOVE this mug...I added to the review I went to yesterday and plan to keep it (after all, it was in my dream!).  The first 2 make a nice pair, for sale now with other groovy items at my etsy gallery!


set of awesome blue beagle mugstremendous turquoise  beagle mug


9 comments:

Sandra Kohlmann said...

A life story, via toaster. I couldn't love it more. After reading this, I have now decided you need to write a memoir. If you do, I promise to buy it.

Sorry your toaster is no longer with you. I'm also sorry, because these days toasters do not last for 25 years. You're lucky to get 2 years out of them, if you are a frequent toast eater.

Hilary said...

The face on the toaster cracked me up. Cheer up.. it's not everyone who can say that their toaster is toast. ;)

Lori Buff said...

I'm so sorry about your loss, I guess that appliance is just toast:-) You know you'll never have another one last that long. I really like the black mugs.

Karen (formerly kcinnova) said...

From the face drawn on the toaster to your story of life, it's all wonderful. RIP, faithful toaster.

We had (still have) a toaster oven from our early days. I think it might have been a wedding gift, and that was 25+ years ago. But it is now in an out-of-the-way cupboard while a new toaster (shopped from my mom's garage) is here on the counter.

Karen (formerly kcinnova) said...

Failed to say... AWESOME MUG!

~ Sil in Corea said...

Good luck on finding a new toaster. Might want to try the same brand again. It might be nearly as good.

Sandi McBride said...

I had a toaster that old once...I TOLD Mac it had caught on fire, but actually I just wanted a spanking new toaster to set primly on my counter. Funny it never toasted as well as the old one...love the mugs by the way. They are rather like the wide flat bottomed cups that Mac used in the Navy, so the cup did not tip with the rolling of the ship...
Sandi

Busy Bee Suz said...

RIP Oster the Toaster. :(
I DO love the black mugs!!!

Jennifer Denise Ouellette said...

I have been to that Marshall Field's :) I <3 Chicago, sourdough bread and my Cuisinart wide mouth toaster :)

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I am a full-time studio potter, sculptor, and dog walker, married to superhawt Missus Tastycake.