I wish I had the kind of toaster we had when I was a kid. Nothing ever popped up anywhere. It had two doors, with little handles, that opened down and you could see if the toast was done. If it wasn’t dark enough for you, you just . . . closed the door again.
Like the one shown in post 35.
The pop-up ones are dangerous. I’ve seen people go after a too-fat piece of toast without unplugging the toaster first.