KERRVILLE, Texas—Before American kitchens included conventional electric pop-up toasters, there were mechanical pop-ups, pop-downs, swingers, turner floppers, conveyor belt Toast-O-Lators and toasters with plugs to light bulb sockets.

Chuck Eissler has them all.

In the early 1980s, Eissler’s mother gave him a Hotpoint flopper she purchased in 1926. Although not the oldest or most sought after model in his collection, it still is his favorite.

“What was innovative about this toaster is when the (side) door opens, the bread turns over and slides down so you don’t have to turn the bread with your fingers,” said Eissler, 71. “This thing was 10 years old when I was born. It brings back so many memories.”

Not long after receiving that Hotpoint, Eissler’s wife, Kay, found a similar flopper model for $5 at a garage sale. It was that tiny investment that launched the now 300-toaster collection.

“Two looked pretty good,” said Chuck Eissler. “Some 25 years later, you see what happened.”

Together Eissler and his wife have combed antique stores and resale shops on out-of-town trips and searched Web sites for the historic appliances created more than 100 years ago.

“I didn’t know what I was getting into,” laughed Kay Eissler, 56. “That’s his hobby. It’s cheaper than golf or flying a plane. ... It’s just fun being married to someone as eccentric as I am.”

Eissler grew up in Yoakum, served in the U.S. Navy and worked most of his career as a dentist for the Veterans Administration in Waco. He retired and moved to Kerrville about two years ago to be closer to grandchildren.

Inside a detached guest house, scores of the shiny chrome- and nickel-plated toasters line wall-to-wall shelves. Eissler has a story to go with each of the toasters — some bought and others received as gifts.

His 1938 Toast-O-Lator came from a toy museum owner in Fredericksburg. Months after giving the man a Crossman pellet pistol from his childhood collection, the toy collector surprised Eissler with the still-working toaster that browns bread as it inches along a conveyor belt.

Eissler’s wife found on eBay a Mickey Mouse toaster that shades bread with a mouse face, then plays the Mickey Mouse Club theme song when the toast is done. She also gave him an early copy of a patent for his oldest 1912 toaster.

Years ago, Eissler bought a ceramic “percatoaster” in an antique shop in Kentucky. The dual coffee maker and toaster from the 1930s has hand-painted flowers and basket-like ridges.

Because many of these fragile appliances didn’t survive decades of wear-and-tear, they now are worth more than $500 each, Eissler said. The ceramic Willow, priced at about $2,500, is the one toaster Eissler feels is missing from his collection.

A lot of people have a few toasters along with other collectibles, but only a few hundred “serious” collectors have more than a couple dozen toasters, said Eric Norcross, president of the Toaster Museum Foundation, which is seeking funding to create a toaster museum.

Eissler doesn’t repair or restore the toasters. Instead, they serve as catalysts for him to meet people while giving tours of the toaster library or presenting them to community groups.

Just as toasters leave their imprints on bread, Eissler’s toasters have given him lots of fun memories. And he loves to share.

“I like the fact that I can talk about them,” said Chuck Eissler. “It gets me out, keeps me young.”