Robert Welch first became interested in stainless steel while a student at the Royal College of Art. After graduation, he was appointed as Design Consultant to Old Hall Ltd in 1955. From 1953, they increasingly focused on the home market and the first series of designs by Welch, which included this toast rack, were put into production in 1956. Two years later, the toast rack was nominated for a Council of Industrial Design Award. The judges stated that 'This toast rack is a good example of elegant and ingenious construction in an increasingly popular and eminently suitable material ... The judges welcome this economical design as a good step forward in an industry in which the imitating of other forms in other materials has been more common than original thinking'. [Eric Turner, 'British Design at Home', p.179]