The toast theme (closely tied to that of boundaries and edges) is essential to an understanding of Leroy’s youthful development of an awareness of time and also approaches (and note my use of the word, since the notion of approaching a degree of doneness, like approaching a degree of perfection, is inherent in the toast concept) the idea of a point of no return in one’s life or one’s current course of action.  Note, for example, that Dudley Beaker, in “My Mother Takes a Tumble,” announces that he has left his job writing advertisements for the Babbington Clam Council to swindle the lovelorn through false personal ads while the very young Peter is in his high chair “gumming a piece of toast.” —MD

See:

LF  toast

H&L  a tiny silver toaster from which two slices of burnt toast, slivers of walnut wood, emerged
RR 117 Some crumbs of toast fell onto her breasts, tiny bits like grains of sand, and for a moment he thought that he wouldn’t be able to keep himself from brushing them off. 
LF 410 she was only working at the edges of accuracy, she was only making tiny steps toward a more correct answer, the way the toast in her toaster made tiny steps from breadness to toastness
LF 449 I blame this misconception on the type of toaster used in most households: the pop-up toaster. 
WDYS 2 Anna spread marmalade on my high-fiber toast 
WDYS 297 “Butter that toast!” she said as soon as I came through the door. 

A Topical Guide to the Complete Peter Leroy (so far) is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, dialogues, settings, and businesses portrayed in it are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. 

All rights reserved. No part of this guide may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author. 

Portions of A Topical Guide to the Complete Peter Leroy (so far) were first published by Voyager, Inc., as part of The Complete Peter Leroy (so far).

The illustration at the top of the page is an adaptation of an illustration by Stewart Rouse that first appeared on the cover of the August 1931 issue of Modern Mechanics and Inventions. The boy at the controls of the aerocycle doesn’t particularly resemble Peter Leroy—except, perhaps, for the smile.