On Jun 25, 4:57*pm, "William Sommerwerck"
wrote:
"klem kedidelhopper" wrote in message

...

When I was a kid, (back in the stone age). there was no such thing as
a Calrod element, well maybe there might have been but I remember that
most appliances like toasters, ovens, broilers, even space heaters
were made with exposed nichrome wire.

The GE Calrod unit goes back at least to the 50s, and probably the 30s. An
electric oven using exposed nichrome wires would not be a very good idea.

Many toasters still are. I
worked on them all from the time I was a teenager. Most people, even
the non technical ones realized after they had stuck a fork in the
toaster once to not do that again. I'm sure that they still do. But
really lets answer the bigger question. What is the goal here? Is it
to build an appliance as cheaply, I'm sorry, (cost effectively), as
possible or is it to keep people, even the stupid ones safe? And
getting back to my other question: why did B& D obviously think that
it was a good idea 15 years ago to switch both the hot and neutral on
my toaster oven but now they don't?

If there is an answer, it's that you do certain things simply because they
make sense, regardless of what you think a user might or might not do.

You just can't convince me that the least common denominator isn't
money. Yeah maybe I am a little paranoid too, but it doesn't mean
they're not out to get me.....Lenny

I have my mother's old broiler/rotisserie from the 50's down in the
basement. My wife asked me to get rid of it so many times but I just
can't seem to part with it. (I remember the roasts and rotisserie
chickens we used to have when I was a kid). It has a coiled nichcrome
wire element as they all did at that time. Early Lionel trains were
connected directly to the AC line through a carbon pile or rheostat.
Things were a lot different in "the old days". I finally just hid it.
Maybe I'll get it out one day and cook a roast for her. Lenny