see: 1920’s “Sweetheart Toaster”

If i remember correctly, this is a gimmick so you can have a romantic toast breakfast where it releases your toast at the same time (British culture, eh?). But when I heard about it, i instead honed in on THE FABULOUS resistance to getting ALL-CRUmBED-oUT, which is the problem you identify in your post

This particular toasted is from 106 years ago

…catsarch.com/…/this_is_ny_1929_sweetheart_toaste…