Inventor Of 'Jesus Toaster' Doing A Booming Business
- Producing Organization
- Vermont Public Radio
- Contributing Organization
- Vermont Public Radio (Colchester, Vermont)
- AAPB ID
- cpb-aacip/211-93gxdkpm
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- Description
- Description
- A toaster that pops out the image of Jesus browned right onto the slice of bread has become wildly popular, and the crew making them in a weathered barn in North Danville is laboring to keep up with demand.
- Segment Description
- VPR Photo/Herb SwansonGalen Dively, left, and Owen Mercon with their Burnt Impressions toasters. (Host) Alert listeners to NPR may have heard a fleeting reference not too long ago to a toaster that pops out the image of Jesus browned right onto the slice of bread. The toasters have become wildly popular and the crew making them in a weathered barn in North Danville is laboring to keep up with demand. So VPR's Charlotte Albright paid a visit to the fledgling company that calls itself "Burnt Impressions" to learn more. (Albright) Following a dirt road in North Danville, it would be easy to miss the corporate headquarters housed in a farmhouse with peeling paint and, ironically, no electricity. It's the home of Burnt Impressions co-founder Owen Mercon. His barn is his warehouse, and it's filled to the rafters with boxes of toasters . Mercon and his partner Galen Dively are both on the porch talking on cell phones. Dively has to finish up with ABC news before he can explain how it all started when he wrapped a Christmas present-a toaster that sears bread with the Japanese trademark feline, "Hello Kitty." VPR Photo/Herb Swanson (Dively) "And I looked at it and I said, That's a perfect place for a hemp leaf.' And Jesus followed shortly after that. It was a natural progression." (Albright) Here's how it works. A Chinese manufacturer makes toasters based on the stencils they get from Dively, and ships them to Vermont. Dively's internet press release about Jesus prompted a media frenzy that led to a buying frenzy. After filling 1,000 retail orders in five days, Dively ordered 6,200 more from China. They sell for forty dollars apiece on the Burnt Impressions website, over the phone, or on Ebay. For co-founder Owen Mercon, branding toast is not just a way to make ... bread. Sales on ebay also benefit a few of his favorite charities: (Mercon) "Students for a sensible drug policy get some and a world peace organization gets some from the peace toasters. And, like you said, we haven't come up with which charity we're going to help with some of the proceeds from the Jesus toaster. ... I will say I've seen the artwork for Mary and it's phenomenal." (Albright) Yes, Owen promises, the Blessed Virgin will eventually ascend from a kitchen appliance. Of course, some of this may distress people who find edible apparitions sacrilegious, and they may not all warm up to website puns, like "The Body of Christ never tasted so good." But Galen Dively says he just has to live with that. (Dively) "You're going to make somebody offended, which I don't particularly feel good about. But it is a joke and that's what it is." (Albright) It's also, possibly, a gold mine. At least, that's what Dively, Mercon, and about 20 of their friends hope, as they watch skyrocketing sales bring returns on their thirty-thousand dollar investment. All punning aside, Dively has high hopes for a company that will employ cash strapped residents in the Northeast Kingdom. He figures they can use Mercon's barn for another month or so, if the generator holds out, while they look for more spacious modern quarters. Meanwhile, they are polling website visitors about the next best thing on sliced bread. So far, Sarah Palin and Jerry Garcia are getting edged out by a cult hero named JR "Bob" Dobbs. Go figure. For VPR News, I'm Charlotte Albright in North Danville.
- Broadcast Date
- 2010-09-24
- Asset type
- Segment
- Rights
- Copyright Vermont Public Radio
- Media type
- Sound
- Credits
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Producing Organization: Vermont Public Radio
Reporter: Charlotte Albright
- AAPB Contributor Holdings
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Vermont Public Radio - WVPR
Identifier: image_16219 (VPR)
Format: image/jpeg
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Vermont Public Radio - WVPR
Identifier: image_16220 (VPR)
Format: image/jpeg
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Vermont Public Radio - WVPR
Identifier: audio_31912 (VPR)
Format: audio/mpeg
Duration: 00:03:00
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- Citations
- Chicago: “Inventor Of 'Jesus Toaster' Doing A Booming Business,” 2010-09-24, Vermont Public Radio, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed April 28, 2025, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-211-93gxdkpm.
- MLA: “Inventor Of 'Jesus Toaster' Doing A Booming Business.” 2010-09-24. Vermont Public Radio, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. April 28, 2025. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-211-93gxdkpm>.
- APA: Inventor Of 'Jesus Toaster' Doing A Booming Business. Boston, MA: Vermont Public Radio, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-211-93gxdkpm