Let Us “Toast” to a Wonderful Life
Man, Woman and a Toaster… Three cheers to lives well lived!
My parents dated for 3 years before getting married in 1954. And while they were happily married for 62 additional years, there was one thing that outlasted their loving partnership— a wedding gift of the brand NEW Toastmaster Super De Luxe Toaster featuring Power-Action. “Through a unique electric motor, it gently takes the bread right out of your fingers!” So let’s “toast” not only to the wonderful life of my parent’s 65 year romance, but to our amazing Heins family toaster that still works today— 67 years and counting…
Cheers to Allan Francis Heins
Born on June 6th in 1931— smack dab in the middle of the Great Depression, it was also 13 years to the exact day before the D-Day landings on the French shores of Normandy. He and his 8 mostly older siblings were lovingly raised by his mother whose huge heart matched her large frame. His father on the other hand was quite small in stature, yet was an intimidating figure due to his strict parenting style.
My father grew up an avid baseball fan, not only playing the game with joy & fervor, but he enjoyed listening to his beloved Brooklyn Dodgers on the radio. In opposition to the Yankees with their endless stacked lineups of power players, the Dodgers were the scrappy working man’s team. Not without their own superstars, my dad’s favorite Dodgers were Roy “Campy” Campanella, Pee Wee Reese, and of course, Jackie Robinson— both Roy and Jackie integrated into the MLB from the negro leagues. In a time of incredible racial divide, my father truly embraced people for who they were, not for what they looked like or where they came from. Years later, when the Dodgers left Brooklyn for the west coast, he did what every self-respecting Dodgers fan did— he became a lifelong fan of the New York Metropolitans.
After attending Kingston High School in the Hudson River Valley of New York, my father joined the Marines, got married, and worked at a little technology company that recently moved into in town called the International Business Machines Corporation— otherwise known as IBM. For 20 years, he parked in the same lot, next to the same factory hand soldering computer boards destined for large military cold war main frame computers. After which, IBM razed his factory building, built a new updated one right on top of his parking lot, and then he worked in that building for another 20 years. In 40 years, my father missed only 7 days of work. By all accounts, he was a dedicated & serious worker, but still found time in life to have fun with an endless silly sense of humor.
For over 30 years of Wednesday nights, he captained my parent’s bowling team named “Heins 57” after the ketchup company’s “57 Varieties” slogan, and before his passing a few years ago, we estimated that he had completed an astounding half-million or more word search puzzles. He adored the same woman for 65 years, and was the definition of steadfast love & devotion.
Cheers to Mary Lou Heins
My mother, born in 1934 as Mary Lou Finch, was a few years younger than my father. She was the only child to her train engineer & fire chief father, and her dynamite-making mother who worked at the Hercules Powder Company during World War II.
After also attending Kingston High, my mother went to Fordham Nursing School, got married, raised a family and with an enormous nurturing spirit that defined a lifetime of work, she was an RN for nearly a half-century, and one of three nursing supervisors at the largest hospital in the region.
Carol and my mom were best friends who went to nursing school together. Will, a printing pressman, and my dad were best friends who played baseball & softball together. Carol & Will were married the year before my parents, and for 50 years they all played pinochle every Saturday night. I will tell you that while endearing, my parents routine was almost comical. Even though they played cards with Carol & Will for decades, every Thursday, I’d hear my mom call up Carol on the ol’ rotary Ma Bell phone and ask, “Al and I were wondering if you and Will would like to come over for some pinochle this Saturday night?” And then the following week, Carol would give my mom pretty much the same call— I guess they’d never heard of the “standing date.”
Whether it was bowling or pinochle, my parents really did EVERYTHING together. This included a daily ritual that, until years after I had moved away for college, I had thought was totally normal. They would completely set the breakfast table before retiring to bed each evening. Placemats, plates, utensils, coffee cups & saucers, matching salt & pepper shakers, the honey jar & butter dish, and finally a rectangular box-shaped object covered in a quilted floral fabric protector would be transferred from the kitchen counter to the dining room table. And only until the morning would the object be revealed— a bright flawlessly polished chrome toaster. Ahhh, table-side toast, hot & fresh every morning was the order of the day to go with their one fried egg each. And last but not least, my parents would give each other a sweet kiss & hug before meals— every single breakfast, lunch & dinner that they shared together without fail for 65 years.
To say my mother had a relatively calm demeanor would be a gross understatement. She rarely raised her voice (except when I did something particularly bad), and she was always the voice of reason. Her kindness, unyielding empathy and caring nature is what assuredly made her the beloved nurse who was able to touch so many people’s lives throughout her decades of community service. And even though in the waning years of her life, Alzheimer’s Disease had taken its unfortunate toll, her life defined the meaning of steadfast love & devotion.
And Finally, Cheers to Our Toaster
Born in 1953 from the McGraw Electric Company, the Toastmaster Super De Luxe was the first of its kind with a touch-sensitive lever that ever so slowly lowers the bread into the body of the sleek & shiny chrome-finished toaster. On the front of the rounded mid-century modern design, is a single dual-purpose dial which primarily adjusts the darkness of the toasted slices. Depressing the dial slowly levitates the bread slices out as easily as they entered.
To our joy, we have used this 2nd function of the dial almost never, and the reason is simple. The Toastmaster Super De Luxe ALWAYS makes an amazing slice of toast. Turn the dial in the 2 o’clock position, and forget it’s even there. Sublime perfection is the evenly golden brown toasting across the entire slice of bread. This artful device has possibly been the single best performing, long-lasting product I have ever used in my lifetime.
More than any other product, it is our Heins family toaster that inspires me to design our Heinsenfolg and Folgenhaüs bespoke audio goods. To create such a simple item that brings so much enjoyment to those who use it, and then gets passed on from generation to generation is indeed a life well lived.
Allan & Mary Lou Heins, Summer of 1954
1953 Toastmaster Advertisement in The Saturday Evening Post
The Heins Family 1954 Toastmaster Super De Luxe Toaster
Mary Lou & Allan Heins with grandson, Max Allan Heins
