Toast rack facts for kids
A toast rack is a special holder for slices of toast. It usually has several upright parts, like dividers, that keep the toast slices separate. This helps stop them from getting soggy. Most toast racks have a flat base and a handle in the middle, making them easy to carry around the table.
The name "toast rack" is also used for other things that look similar. You might hear it used for certain buildings or even train carriages!
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History of Toast Racks
The first known toast racks were made a long time ago, around the 1770s. People have been making them ever since, and you can still find new ones today.
How Toast Racks Are Designed
Toast racks are designed to keep your toast nice and crispy. When toast is hot, it lets off steam (water vapor). If slices are stacked on a plate, this steam gets trapped between them, making the toast soft and soggy.
A toast rack solves this problem by holding each slice apart. This creates small air gaps. The air can move freely around each slice, letting the steam escape. However, because the air moves more, your toast might also get cold faster!
Over time, the look of toast racks has changed with fashion. Early ones often had dividers made from silver wires. These wires were attached to a base, sometimes with four small feet. Some clever designs could even expand or fold up to save space. Others included special spots for egg-cups or small jars of jam or marmalade.
A famous designer named Christopher Dresser (1834–1904) was known for his creative toast rack designs. He started studying design when he was just 13 years old. Many people think of him as the "father of modern design."
Today, many toast racks are made from shiny stainless steel. They are often shaped by stamping and folding metal sheets, or by welding stainless steel wires together.
Things Named "Toast Rack"
Sometimes, other things are called "toast rack" because they look like one.
Buildings Called "Toast Rack"
There's a famous building at Manchester Metropolitan University in England that people call "The Toast Rack." Its real name is the Hollings Building. It was designed by an architect named L. C. Howitt. The building looks like a giant toast rack because of its unusual shape. It's even more fitting because the building was originally built for a department that taught about home economics, like cooking! There's another building nearby, designed by the same architect, that people say looks like a fried egg.
In a part of London called Wandsworth, there's a group of streets that locals and real estate agents often call "The Toast Rack." This is because when you look at a map of these streets, their layout seems to look like a toast rack.
Trains and Trams Called "Toast Rack"
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On some railways, especially smaller ones, you might hear about "toast rack passenger carriages." These are train cars that have open sides, or sometimes just a roof. The seats are arranged in rows across the carriage, at right angles to the direction the train is moving. This setup makes them look a bit like toast slices in a rack.
When this term is used for larger trains, it means coaches where the seats are also set across the train. These coaches don't have a side aisle or a central walkway. Each group of seats is separate from the next, just like compartments. These larger "toast rack" coaches might be fully enclosed, or they might have roofs and sides but no windows, making them "semi-open." Many railways have these types of carriages. For example, the Vale of Rheidol Railway in Wales is well-known for using this design for its trains.
In the past, especially during the time of horse-drawn trams and early electric trams, "toast rack" cars were common. They were often used in warm places or during the summer. These tram cars usually had roofs and sometimes seats that could be flipped to face either way.
