Big Wow, 2014. Betsy Streeter and I shared a table at this San Jose Comic Convention. Betsy and mutual pal, Alex “Shoe” Schumacher, and I went in on a table together. Showing in these comic conventions is an experience. At the end of the day, having talked with EVERYone, you get loopy.

So it was the end of the first day of Big Wow and we got on the subject somehow of toast. And in a bit of sugar high-caffeine-rush-whackadoo, we just started yelling TOAST at one another …and then at passerbys. We decided that this was some sort of worthy battle cry. Being a cartoonist, Alex then drew toast and we had fun with that.

Clearly not having enough toast, Betsy went home that night, put a piece of toast in her scanner and sent me the image. I Photoshopped eyes on it and made pinback buttons; we offered them to people the next day. Betsy brought the actual toast with her and we displayed it on a book easel. Of course, it became a topic of conversation when seen on the table. Suddenly, it was a thing.

So, convention after convention, Betsy brought this piece of toast with her. It had been wrapped in a paper towel and stuffed in a ziplock baggie. It NEVER molded, and remains so to this day.

The toast became legend. People who saw us at later conventions would see the toast and show us their buttons. They remembered… as did we… It was incredible!

Years later, long after we stopped going to the conventions, we would still shout TOAST at one another… in our emails and letters, we would end with TOASSSST! More years later, we decided that we ought to form a club or some such thing devoted to, and in service of, the Toast. Seeing needs in our lives and in art circles, we came to the conclusion that it needed to be more than just a fun silly club, but something more…