The Brave Little Toaster - Revision history

Eb at 02:34, 3 July 2025

2025-07-03T02:34:40Z

Eb at 02:34, 3 July 2025

2025-07-03T02:34:07Z

Eb at 06:12, 29 January 2025

2025-01-29T06:12:05Z

Eb: /* listened to the radio sing song after song */

2025-01-27T06:37:55Z

listened to the radio sing song after song

Eb at 02:29, 25 January 2025

2025-01-25T02:29:02Z

Eb at 20:17, 22 January 2025

2025-01-22T20:17:06Z

Eb: /* the vacuum cleaner, being the oldest ... it was a Hoover */

2025-01-22T18:48:23Z

the vacuum cleaner, being the oldest ... it was a Hoover

Eb at 00:00, 19 January 2025

2025-01-19T00:00:08Z

Eb: /* the toaster, a bright little Sunbeam */

2025-01-18T22:40:49Z

the toaster, a bright little Sunbeam

Eb: /* listened to the radio sing song after song */

2025-01-01T20:24:45Z

listened to the radio sing song after song

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 '''''The Brave Little Toaster: A Bedtime Story for Small Appliances''''' (1980) is a novella by [[Thomas M. Disch]], later published as a children's book and adapted into an {{wp|The Brave Little Toaster|animated movie}}. It describes the quest of five appliances leaving their cottage, whose owner has been away for several years, to find him in the city.
-This was Disch's first work for children,<ref>Others are ''The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars'', ''A Child's Garden of Grammar'', and an autobiographical essay in the ''Something About the Author'' series. [https://compassrosebooks.blogspot.com/2016/12/tom-disch-1940-2008-was-gifted-poet.html ''The Tale of Dan de Lion''] arguably qualifies too, although this tiny picture-book poem can't have been seen by many children, as it appeared only in a very limited edition.</ref>, but it originally appeared in ''The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction''. Book publishers were uninterested at first; according to Disch, they felt kids would not care about talking inanimate objects. Fifteen years later, ''Toy Story'' thoroughly disproved that theory—and this was a precursor to ''Toy Story'' in more ways than one: the Disney employee who had read the novella and convinced Disney to buy the film rights was John Lasseter, later a co-founder of Pixar, who originally pitched it as a computer-animated project.
+This was Disch's first work for children,<ref>Others are ''The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars'', ''A Child's Garden of Grammar'', and an autobiographical essay in the ''Something About the Author'' series. [https://compassrosebooks.blogspot.com/2016/12/tom-disch-1940-2008-was-gifted-poet.html ''The Tale of Dan de Lion''] arguably qualifies too, although this tiny picture-book poem can't have been seen by many children, as it appeared only in a very limited edition.</ref> but it originally appeared in ''The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction''. Book publishers were uninterested at first; according to Disch, they felt kids would not care about talking inanimate objects. Fifteen years later, ''Toy Story'' thoroughly disproved that theory—and this was a precursor to ''Toy Story'' in more ways than one: the Disney employee who had read the novella and convinced Disney to buy the film rights was John Lasseter, later a co-founder of Pixar, who originally pitched it as a computer-animated project.
 Once the movie was in production (funded by Disney but made by Hyperion Pictures, more cheaply and without computers), Doubleday published the book. These notes refer to the 1986 Doubleday edition, with illustrations by Karen Lee Schmidt; see '''[[/Editions/]]''' for others.

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 '''''The Brave Little Toaster: A Bedtime Story for Small Appliances''''' (1980) is a novella by [[Thomas M. Disch]], later published as a children's book and adapted into an {{wp|The Brave Little Toaster|animated movie}}. It describes the quest of five appliances leaving their cottage, whose owner has been away for several years, to find him in the city.
-This was Disch's first work for children (the others are ''The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars'', ''A Child's Garden of Grammar'', and an autobiographical essay in the ''Something About the Author'' series), but it originally appeared in ''The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction''. Book publishers were uninterested at first; according to Disch, they felt kids would not care about talking inanimate objects. Fifteen years later, ''Toy Story'' thoroughly disproved that theory—and this was a precursor to ''Toy Story'' in more ways than one: the Disney employee who had read the novella and convinced Disney to buy the film rights was John Lasseter, later a co-founder of Pixar, who originally pitched it as a computer-animated project.
+This was Disch's first work for children,<ref>Others are ''The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars'', ''A Child's Garden of Grammar'', and an autobiographical essay in the ''Something About the Author'' series. [https://compassrosebooks.blogspot.com/2016/12/tom-disch-1940-2008-was-gifted-poet.html ''The Tale of Dan de Lion''] arguably qualifies too, although this tiny picture-book poem can't have been seen by many children, as it appeared only in a very limited edition.</ref>, but it originally appeared in ''The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction''. Book publishers were uninterested at first; according to Disch, they felt kids would not care about talking inanimate objects. Fifteen years later, ''Toy Story'' thoroughly disproved that theory—and this was a precursor to ''Toy Story'' in more ways than one: the Disney employee who had read the novella and convinced Disney to buy the film rights was John Lasseter, later a co-founder of Pixar, who originally pitched it as a computer-animated project.
 Once the movie was in production (funded by Disney but made by Hyperion Pictures, more cheaply and without computers), Doubleday published the book. These notes refer to the 1986 Doubleday edition, with illustrations by Karen Lee Schmidt; see '''[[/Editions/]]''' for others.

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:12, 29 January 2025
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	Once the movie was in production (funded by Disney but made by Hyperion Pictures, more cheaply and without computers), Doubleday published the book. These notes refer to the 1986 Doubleday edition, with illustrations by Karen Lee Schmidt; see '''[[/Editions/]]''' for others.		Once the movie was in production (funded by Disney but made by Hyperion Pictures, more cheaply and without computers), Doubleday published the book. These notes refer to the 1986 Doubleday edition, with illustrations by Karen Lee Schmidt; see '''[[/Editions/]]''' for others.
		+
		+	Doubleday also published Disch's sequel ''{{wp\|The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars}}'', which Disney made a much less successful direct-to-video movie from. His last experience with that industry left him even more disappointed: he wrote the original story treatment for the massively successful ''The Lion King'', but it was uncredited work-for-hire that paid badly since writers on animated projects were not covered by the WGA at the time.<ref>{{cite article\|author=Chandler, David\|date=2018\|title=Creating ''The Lion King'': Story development, authorship and accreditation in the Disney renaissance\|url=https://intellectdiscover.com/docserver/fulltext/josc/9/3/josc.9.3.329_1.pdf?expires=1738030973&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=FF0E10964B0DDEF23FA50C8F2B9DE475\|publication=Journal of Screenwriting\|pub-date=Vol. 9, No. 3\|accessed=January 28, 2025}}</ref>

	== Major characters ==		== Major characters ==

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 === listened to the radio sing song after song ===
-(p. 54) The idea that the radio is always ''performing'', rather than just passively conveying other people's performances, is used heavily in the movie adaptation where the dialogue voiced by Jon Lovitz includes a lot of free-association medleys of songs and commercials.
+(p. 54) The idea that the radio is always ''performing'', rather than just passively conveying other people's performances, is used heavily in the movie adaptation where the dialogue voiced by Jon Lovitz includes free-association medleys of songs and commercials.
 One thing Lovitz sings in the movie, very briefly, that viewers who recognize it might find a wee bit odd or inappropriate, is ''not'' from this book: the Al Jolson version of {{wp|My Mammy|"My Mammy"}}. However, there is a Disch connection there and I strongly suspect it was an inside joke by the filmmakers rather than a coincidence. Disch's science fiction novel ''[[On Wings of Song]]''—published in the same magazine as ''The Brave Little Toaster'', one year earlier—was a bitter satire involving the rise of a pop star who is famous for a combination of bel canto opera and blackface minstrel songs, including that one.

@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 This was Disch's first work for children (the others are ''The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars'', ''A Child's Garden of Grammar'', and an autobiographical essay in the ''Something About the Author'' series), but it originally appeared in ''The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction''. Book publishers were uninterested at first; according to Disch, they felt kids would not care about talking inanimate objects. Fifteen years later, ''Toy Story'' thoroughly disproved that theory—and this was a precursor to ''Toy Story'' in more ways than one: the Disney employee who had read the novella and convinced Disney to buy the film rights was John Lasseter, later a co-founder of Pixar, who originally pitched it as a computer-animated project.
-Once the movie was in production (funded by Disney but made by Hyperion Pictures, more cheaply and without computers), Doubleday published the book. These notes refer to the 1986 Doubleday edition, with illustrations by Karen Lee Schmidt.
+Once the movie was in production (funded by Disney but made by Hyperion Pictures, more cheaply and without computers), Doubleday published the book. These notes refer to the 1986 Doubleday edition, with illustrations by Karen Lee Schmidt; see '''[[/Editions/]]''' for others.
 == Major characters ==

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:17, 22 January 2025
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		+	{{#addbodyclass: tiled-toc tiled-toc-no-chapters}}
	'''''The Brave Little Toaster: A Bedtime Story for Small Appliances''''' (1980) is a novella by [[Thomas M. Disch]], later published as a children's book and adapted into an {{wp\|The Brave Little Toaster\|animated movie}}. It describes the quest of five appliances leaving their cottage, whose owner has been away for several years, to find him in the city.		'''''The Brave Little Toaster: A Bedtime Story for Small Appliances''''' (1980) is a novella by [[Thomas M. Disch]], later published as a children's book and adapted into an {{wp\|The Brave Little Toaster\|animated movie}}. It describes the quest of five appliances leaving their cottage, whose owner has been away for several years, to find him in the city.

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 (p. 9) How old is this oldest of the appliances? This story begins on March 8, 1976, and the appliances were abandoned in the cottage on September 25, 1973,<ref>''The Brave Little Toaster'', p. 12.</ref> after having been brought from the city "years and years and years ago" (except for the toaster, who arrived at some point after that). Appliances did generally last longer in those days than now, so "the master" (who isn't as young as he is in the movie) could've had some items from 20 years earlier—but then he might've been more attached to them as antiques and wouldn't have left them behind. So let's say they're early '70s or late '60s devices.
-[[File:Dialamatic-ad.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Hoover Dial-a-Matic Model 1170 (1969)]] However—if one really cares about being historically consistent (which I have no reason to think Disch really cared about, but he might have done so for fun)—the vacuum, and therefore all the other appliances, arguably can't be older than 1969. That's the year when {{wp|The Hoover Company|Hoover}} released its first ''self-propelled'' vacuum, the Dial-a-Matic Model 1170 (shown at right); the vacuum being able to roll around via its own motor is an important plot point in this story. You might argue that all of these appliances seem to be able to crawl around on their own anyway, but since we're told that this vacuum is envious of newer vacuums for their other design features like disposable dust bags<ref>''The Brave Little Toaster'', p. 11.</ref> and ''not'' for being self-propelled, I feel confident that it does have that as a mechanical feature and not just a magic/anthropomorphic one.
+[[File:Dialamatic-ad.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Hoover Dial-a-Matic Model 1170 (1969)]] However—if one really cares about being historically consistent (which I have no reason to think Disch really cared about, but he might have done so for fun)—the vacuum, and therefore all the other appliances, arguably can't be older than 1969. That's the year when {{wp|The Hoover Company|Hoover}} released its first ''self-propelled'' vacuum, the Dial-a-Matic Model 1170 (shown at right); the vacuum being able to roll around via its own motor is an important plot point in this story. (That doesn't mean fully self-directed like a {{wp|Roomba}}—just that the Model 1170 could keep going in whatever direction you pushed it.) You might argue that all of these appliances seem to be able to crawl around on their own anyway, but since we're told that this vacuum is envious of newer vacuums for their other design features like disposable dust bags<ref>''The Brave Little Toaster'', p. 11.</ref> and ''not'' for being self-propelled, I feel confident that it does have that as a mechanical feature and not just a magic/anthropomorphic one.
 The vacuum cleaner portrayed in Schmidt's illustrations doesn't seem to be any particular Hoover; it's kind of a cross between the 1170 and later '70s models that didn't have such a tall center piece.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-'''''The Brave Little Toaster: A Bedtime Story for Small Appliances''''' (1980) is a novella by [[Thomas M. Disch]], later published as a children's book and adapted into an [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Brave_Little_Toaster animated movie]. It describes the quest of five appliances leaving their cottage, whose owner has been away for several years, to find him in the city.
+'''''The Brave Little Toaster: A Bedtime Story for Small Appliances''''' (1980) is a novella by [[Thomas M. Disch]], later published as a children's book and adapted into an {{wp|The Brave Little Toaster|animated movie}}. It describes the quest of five appliances leaving their cottage, whose owner has been away for several years, to find him in the city.
 This was Disch's first work for children (the others are ''The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars'', ''A Child's Garden of Grammar'', and an autobiographical essay in the ''Something About the Author'' series), but it originally appeared in ''The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction''. Book publishers were uninterested at first; according to Disch, they felt kids would not care about talking inanimate objects. Fifteen years later, ''Toy Story'' thoroughly disproved that theory—and this was a precursor to ''Toy Story'' in more ways than one: the Disney employee who had read the novella and convinced Disney to buy the film rights was John Lasseter, later a co-founder of Pixar, who originally pitched it as a computer-animated project.
@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 == Epigram ==
-The epigram is a take-off on [https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/breathes-there-man/ a stanza] from Sir Walter Scott's ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lay_of_the_Last_Minstrel The Lay of the Last Minstrel]'' (1805), which begins:
+The epigram is a take-off on [https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/breathes-there-man/ a stanza] from Sir Walter Scott's ''{{wp|The Lay of the Last Minstrel}}'' (1805), which begins:
 : Breathes there the man, with soul so dead,
@@ Line 45: / Line 45: @@
 (p. 9) How old is this oldest of the appliances? This story begins on March 8, 1976, and the appliances were abandoned in the cottage on September 25, 1973,<ref>''The Brave Little Toaster'', p. 12.</ref> after having been brought from the city "years and years and years ago" (except for the toaster, who arrived at some point after that). Appliances did generally last longer in those days than now, so "the master" (who isn't as young as he is in the movie) could've had some items from 20 years earlier—but then he might've been more attached to them as antiques and wouldn't have left them behind. So let's say they're early '70s or late '60s devices.
-[[File:Dialamatic-ad.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Hoover Dial-a-Matic Model 1170 (1969)]] However—if one really cares about being historically consistent (which I have no reason to think Disch really cared about, but he might have done so for fun)—the vacuum, and therefore all the other appliances, arguably can't be older than 1969. That's the year when [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hoover_Company Hoover] released its first ''self-propelled'' vacuum, the Dial-a-Matic Model 1170 (shown at right); the vacuum being able to roll around via its own motor is an important plot point in this story. You might argue that all of these appliances seem to be able to crawl around on their own anyway, but since we're told that this vacuum is envious of newer vacuums for their other design features like disposable dust bags<ref>''The Brave Little Toaster'', p. 11.</ref> and ''not'' for being self-propelled, I feel confident that it does have that as a mechanical feature and not just a magic/anthropomorphic one.
+[[File:Dialamatic-ad.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Hoover Dial-a-Matic Model 1170 (1969)]] However—if one really cares about being historically consistent (which I have no reason to think Disch really cared about, but he might have done so for fun)—the vacuum, and therefore all the other appliances, arguably can't be older than 1969. That's the year when {{wp|The Hoover Company|Hoover}} released its first ''self-propelled'' vacuum, the Dial-a-Matic Model 1170 (shown at right); the vacuum being able to roll around via its own motor is an important plot point in this story. You might argue that all of these appliances seem to be able to crawl around on their own anyway, but since we're told that this vacuum is envious of newer vacuums for their other design features like disposable dust bags<ref>''The Brave Little Toaster'', p. 11.</ref> and ''not'' for being self-propelled, I feel confident that it does have that as a mechanical feature and not just a magic/anthropomorphic one.
 The vacuum cleaner portrayed in Schmidt's illustrations doesn't seem to be any particular Hoover; it's kind of a cross between the 1170 and later '70s models that didn't have such a tall center piece.
@@ Line 51: / Line 51: @@
 === an off-white plastic alarm clock/radio (AM only) ===
-Digital clocks were already around in the '70s, but I think we can assume this is an analog one since Disch would've been likely to mention its glowing numbers otherwise. FM radio was also around, but FM [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FM_broadcasting#History took a while to catch on] in the US. Here's a slightly older analog AM-only model.
+Digital clocks were already around in the '70s, but I think we can assume this is an analog one since Disch would've been likely to mention its glowing numbers otherwise. FM radio was also around, but FM {{wp|FM broadcasting#History|took a while to catch on}} in the US. Here's a slightly older analog AM-only model.
 [[File:Toaster-clock-radio.jpg|thumb|left|300px|General Electric C4245 clock/radio (c. 1968)]]
@@ Line 61: / Line 61: @@
 === a Tensor lamp who had come from a savings bank ===
-The [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tensor_lamp Tensor lamp] was popular throughout the '60s and '70s, with many different styles but always having a smaller-than-usual bulb ("the lamp could never regard an ordinary 100-watt bulb without a twinge of envy"<ref>''The Brave Little Toaster'', p. 11.</ref>) and a movable arm. Schmidt's illustrations show one with a curved gooseneck, like the one at left; older models would've more likely had a jointed arm.
+The {{wp|Tensor lamp}} was popular throughout the '60s and '70s, with many different styles but always having a smaller-than-usual bulb ("the lamp could never regard an ordinary 100-watt bulb without a twinge of envy"<ref>''The Brave Little Toaster'', p. 11.</ref>) and a movable arm. Schmidt's illustrations show one with a curved gooseneck, like the one at left; older models would've more likely had a jointed arm.
 [[File:Tensor-il-355.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Tensor lamp model IL 355 (early 1970s)]]
@@ Line 67: / Line 67: @@
 === the toaster, a bright little Sunbeam ===
-Sunbeam toasters were made from 1949 to 1997.<ref>{{cite article|title=Sunbeam Models & Years.|url=https://www.timstoasters.com/models-years/|publication=Tim's Toasters|accessed=December 31, 2024}}</ref> The main thing that made a Sunbeam different from other toasters, besides being especially brave and optimistic, was its fully automatic system: instead of pushing down a lever, just dropping in the bread triggered a mechanism that lowered the bread and started the heating element, and after reaching the right temperature it would smoothly raise the bread up again.
+Sunbeam toasters were made from 1949 to 1997.<ref>{{cite article|title=Sunbeam Models & Years|url=https://www.timstoasters.com/models-years/|publication=Tim's Toasters|accessed=December 31, 2024}}</ref> The main thing that made a Sunbeam different from other toasters, besides being especially brave and optimistic, was its fully automatic system: instead of pushing down a lever, just dropping in the bread triggered a mechanism that lowered the bread and started the heating element, and after reaching the right temperature it would smoothly raise the bread up again.
 A common early-1970s model was the AT-W:
@@ Line 97: / Line 97: @@
 === a long comic jingle about Barneys' Hi-Styles for Guys and Gals ===
-(p. 24) It's unclear whether this is the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barneys_New_York Barneys] department store chain or a fictional store, but I'm guessing it's the former (even though Barneys was still writing its name as "Barney's" in 1980). Barneys in the 1970s had just finished remaking itself from a discount outlet into a fancier place full of designer brands. Here's a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7n61Z62PAY 1975 TV spot] with a goofy quality similar to what's described here, aimed at convincing young professional "guys and gals" that they could now afford nice things.
+(p. 24) It's unclear whether this is the {{wp|Barneys New York|Barneys}} department store chain or a fictional store, but I'm guessing it's the former (even though Barneys was still writing its name as "Barney's" in 1980). Barneys in the 1970s had just finished remaking itself from a discount outlet into a fancier place full of designer brands. Here's a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7n61Z62PAY 1975 TV spot] with a goofy quality similar to what's described here, aimed at convincing young professional "guys and gals" that they could now afford nice things.
 === a rough sort of octosyllabic doggerel ===
-(p. 26) The daisy is exclusively using [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iambic_tetrameter iambic tetrameter] (sometimes cheating by dropping the first beat) in rhymed couplets, AA-BB-CC etc. as boringly as possible despite the very flowery language. Disch, in his other career as a poet, would be among the "more evolved species" that the narrator says prefer "sestinas, rondeaux, and villanelles of the highest order."
+(p. 26) The daisy is exclusively using {{wp|iambic tetrameter}} (sometimes cheating by dropping the first beat) in rhymed couplets, AA-BB-CC etc. as boringly as possible despite the very flowery language. Disch, in his other career as a poet, would be among the "more evolved species" that the narrator says prefer "sestinas, rondeaux, and villanelles of the highest order."
 === You tell him .... Tell ''them'' ===
@@ Line 111: / Line 111: @@
 === From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs ===
-(p. 49) A socialist motto [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_each_according_to_his_ability,_to_each_according_to_his_needs popularized by Karl Marx].
+(p. 49) A socialist motto {{wp|From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs|popularized by Karl Marx}}.
 === humming the poignant theme song from ''Doctor Zhivago'' ===
-(p. 52) Also known as [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lara%27s_Theme "Lara's Theme"], from the score by Maurice Jarre. A version with lyrics added was extremely popular in the '60s and then became a hit again in 1973—so the fact that it's described here as a film theme, instead of as the tune of "Somewhere My Love", suggests that either the narrator or "the master" might be a bit of a film nerd who isn't very into pop music.
+(p. 52) Also known as {{wp|Lara's Theme|"Lara's Theme"}}, from the score by Maurice Jarre. A version with lyrics added was extremely popular in the '60s and then became a hit again in 1973—so the fact that it's described here as a film theme, instead of as the tune of "Somewhere My Love", suggests that either the narrator or "the master" might be a bit of a film nerd who isn't very into pop music.
 === listened to the radio sing song after song ===
@@ Line 121: / Line 121: @@
 (p. 54) The idea that the radio is always ''performing'', rather than just passively conveying other people's performances, is used heavily in the movie adaptation where the dialogue voiced by Jon Lovitz includes a lot of free-association medleys of songs and commercials.
-One thing Lovitz sings in the movie, very briefly, that viewers who recognize it might find a wee bit odd or inappropriate, is ''not'' from this book: the Al Jolson version of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Mammy "My Mammy"]. However, there is a Disch connection there and I strongly suspect it was an inside joke by the filmmakers rather than a coincidence. Disch's science fiction novel ''[[On Wings of Song]]''—published in the same magazine as ''The Brave Little Toaster'', one year earlier—was a bitter satire involving the rise of a pop star who is famous for a combination of bel canto opera and blackface minstrel songs, including that one.
+One thing Lovitz sings in the movie, very briefly, that viewers who recognize it might find a wee bit odd or inappropriate, is ''not'' from this book: the Al Jolson version of {{wp|My Mammy|"My Mammy"}}. However, there is a Disch connection there and I strongly suspect it was an inside joke by the filmmakers rather than a coincidence. Disch's science fiction novel ''[[On Wings of Song]]''—published in the same magazine as ''The Brave Little Toaster'', one year earlier—was a bitter satire involving the rise of a pop star who is famous for a combination of bel canto opera and blackface minstrel songs, including that one.
 === the toaster's own favorite melody, "I Whistle a Happy Tune" ===
-(p. 54) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Whistle_a_Happy_Tune This song] is from ''The King and I'' (1951). Its lyrics aren't quoted for the reader, but if you know them, they cast an ironic light on the title of the book, and the character of the toaster... since they're about pretending to be brave and hoping to convince yourself:
+(p. 54) {{wp|I Whistle a Happy Tune|This song}} is from ''The King and I'' (1951). Its lyrics aren't quoted for the reader, but if you know them, they cast an ironic light on the title of the book, and the character of the toaster... since they're about pretending to be brave and hoping to convince yourself:
 : While shivering in my shoes
@@ Line 138: / Line 138: @@
 === listener-supported radio station KHOP ===
-(p. 75) A California radio station has been using that [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_signs_in_the_United_States call sign] since 1996; I don't know if there was one anywhere in 1980. "K" stations could be anywhere in the midwestern or western US.
+(p. 75) A California radio station has been using that {{wp|Call signs in the United States|call sign}} since 1996; I don't know if there was one anywhere in 1980. "K" stations could be anywhere in the midwestern or western US.
 === KL5-9120 ===
-(p. 75) Using letters for the first digits of a phone number was a relic of the old [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_exchange_names exchange name] system, and would've still been recognizable in 1976 when the story takes place (although maybe not for children in 1980; Disch may have been hoping to make readers curious enough to ask a major appliance about it). KL5 is the same as 555, the US standard for fake phone numbers in movies and TV.
+(p. 75) Using letters for the first digits of a phone number was a relic of the old {{wp|Telephone exchange names|exchange name}} system, and would've still been recognizable in 1976 when the story takes place (although maybe not for children in 1980; Disch may have been hoping to make readers curious enough to ask a major appliance about it). KL5 is the same as 555, the US standard for fake phone numbers in movies and TV.
 === Whether or not it's against the rules ... many appliances ... do use the phone system regularly ===