Letters to The Times, 9 - 14 August 2019

CRUMB OF COMFORT
Sir, Every morning when making toast I wonder why the bread isn’t made to fit the toaster, or alternatively, the toaster made to fit the bread.
Josephine Smith
Birmingham

(9 August 2019).

PERFECT TOAST
Sir, My solution to the toaster problem (letter, Aug 9) was to make a card template of the slice of bread most frequently toasted at home.  We then visited the electrical shops and departments in the town where we lived. After a long (and for my wife, rather embarrassing) afternoon we bought a low-priced Russell Hobbs toaster.  It has given us several years of great toast without the waste of an untoasted portion on each slice.
The Rev John Townend
Glasbury-on-Wye, Powys
(10 August 2019).

SIZING UP A HARP
Sir, Further to the Rev Townend’s letter (Aug 10) and the use of a cardboard template of a slice of bread for purchasing a toaster, my husband and I needed to buy a car with a boot wide enough to accommodate our daughter’s concert harp.  We made a template of the harp out of sheets of The Times stuck together, which we took to the car showroom and laid in the boots of cars.  We made a satisfactory purchase.
Dr and Mrs B Wakefield
Woodbridge, Suffolk
(12 August 2019).

BOOKING A RIDE
Sir, Our son measured the dimensions of our Renault 4 before making the largest possible bookcase at school (“Sizing up a harp”, letters, Aug 10 & 12).  Unfortunately he didn’t allow for the thickness of the wood and it wouldn’t fit in the car.  He asked a friendly undertaker for his help and the bookcase was successfully transported home in a hearse.
Philippa Russell
Birmingham
(13 August 2019).

MEASURING UP
Sir, Further to your letters on templates (Aug 10 & 12), we stuck sheets of The Times together on our lounge wall to gauge the size of a suitable TV prior to its purchase.  Another example of double usefulness.
Dr and Mrs J Ling
Aberystwyth, Ceredigion

(14 August 2019).