We used to sell these at my job, now I regret not buying one with an employee discount lol.

I have one from 1980 if I'm reading my date stamps right, very similar to your 1969 one. I found it at a thrift store about 12 years ago and it's still in great shape (minus one small dent on the base from when I dropped it).

I've seen some cheaply made leather belts completely disintegrating after a few years, so it it possible to mess them up, but for the most part you are right. The last time I needed a new belt it wasn't because my last one had worn out, but because at 24 I had finally outgrown the Boy Scout belt I wore in high school. I went to the Scout store, bought a new one, and 4 years later that one has only a few scratches in the buckle coating to show for it.

Those "art" toasters are some of the coolest looking appliances ever made, it's like for a solid decade toaster makers just went off and we are better for it.