Toast · Chapter 3 of 8

The toaster.

Every family has an heirloom. Some families have a ring, or a quilt, or a clock. Ours has a 1962 Sunbeam-ish two-slot chrome toaster, and a court order.
1974

Nana Bev, an estate sale, and a woman named Doreen.

Nana Bev bought the toaster at an estate sale in 1974 for two dollars. A woman named Doreen had been about to buy it for one dollar and fifty cents. Nana Bev offered two. Doreen offered two-fifty. Nana Bev offered to “see her outside.”

Doreen sued. The case, Doreen v. Beverly, went to small claims and was dismissed, then appealed, then dismissed again, and Doreen sent a Christmas card every year until 2009 that said only “I remember.”

A gleaming chrome two-slot toaster from the 1960s, with a black bakelite lever and a dial from 1 to 6. It sits on a lace doily like a trophy, with a small brass plaque in front of it.
The toaster, on its doily. The plaque reads Doreen v. Beverly, 1974. Dismissed.
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Technique

A word about the dial.

The dial goes from 1 to 6. Nana Bev used 3. My mother used 4. I use 3.5, which is not a setting, which is the point. You have to feel it. You have to hold the dial between two numbers and believe.

The left slot runs hotter than the right. This is not a fault. This is history. Doreen is in the left slot, in a way, and she remembers.