The History of the Standing Kitchen Mixer

We live in a world where devices no bigger than your hand can call up the internet, play all your favorite songs, and allow you to record photos as well as make phone calls to any place around the globe. It is challenging to think of the simple standing kitchen mixer as a wondrous technological creation in such a complicated world.



The first known patent for an electric mixer, according to the book "Antique Electric Mixers" by Dennis Thompson, was given to Rufus W. Eastman in the year 1885. It was a peculiar machine created to operate on electricity or water power. Herbert Johnston, an engineer around 1908 saw a baker blend bread dough with the aid of only an iron spoon. As a result, Johnston was inspired to create the popular standing mixer. Eighty quart commercial grade mixers went on the market and instantly were thought of as a considerable labor saving tool in the year 1914. Trying out a home model, the wife of an executive proclaimed it to be "the best kitchen aid I've ever had" and thus a brand name was created. Since then, the standard in home mixers has been known as KitchenAid. Validating KitchenAid's advertisement which stated that its mixer with attachments could "do it all!", today's attachments have the capability to produce pasta, fill up sausage, crush food, squeeze citrus, as well as creating ice cream.



The Sunbeam division of the Chicago Flexible Shaft Company patented its version of the kitchen standing mixer along with 2 removable beaters in 1928 and 1929. In 1930 the Mixmaster was mass produced at a fraction of the KitchenAid's price. The MixMaster became so popular that it was synonymous for any mixer that was standing just like the way Kleenex is for tissue or adhesive bandages are known as Band-Aid.



I recall the mixer that mom possessed, a durable Sunbeam MixMaster with ivory housing on the motor, a black base, and a green glass bowl. Not caring about the hazard of raw eggs in the batter, we enjoyed licking on the beaters after completion of the blending. As a testimony to its durability, it was the only mixer I ever remember mom owning. She also had attachments for it, including a juicer and a food grinder.



After departing my home as a young adult, I owned hand-held mixers which allowed me to mix up a nice cake topped with natural frosting and the periodic mashed potatoes. When my husband and I were married, he came with an old Sunbeam MixMaster almost identical to moms. His too had been inherited from his mother.



For several years, the Sunbeam MixMaster of my mother-in-law continued to operate properly. At last I requested, as a present for one of my eventful birthdays, a KitchenAid standing mixer in gorgeous cobalt blue with a variety of intricate attachments. I am confident that my mixer will work fine for a long time and that I will be able to pass it down in the future.


About the Author:
Rodger Haroar is no stranger to meat grinder parts. For all commercial kitchen equipment parts, he knows the best place to get replacements is National Band Saw. Not only can he get the Toledo meat grinder parts he needs, but he can get the replacement parts for his personal food processor as well.