Technology: New Kitchen Aids
Along with the electric range, hot water
heating cylinder, electric iron, vacuum
cleaner and refrigerator, the move to electricity
brought a number of new labour-saving devices
into the kitchens of many South Dunedin
homes.
In
1909 the electric toaster arrived. The first
toasters only toasted one side of the bread
at a time and had to be watched closely
to avoid ending up with burnt toast. In
1919 Charles Strite helped combat the burnt
toast problem by inventing the first automatic
electric pop-up toaster. Sale of toasters
would soon be aided by the arrival of another
great invention that revolutionised breakfast
time - sliced bread. The toaster displayed
here is a Universal brand, manufactured
in the United States. (Otago Settlers Museum
Collection)
Until
the invention of the first immersion elements
in the early 1920s, kettles had their heating
elements beneath the base of the kettle.
The 'Swan' kettle, with its waterproof element,
changed all that and set the electric kettle
on a path to taking over from the old hob
kettle. No more was it a case of stoking
up the coal range to achieve hot water -
just plug in the kettle. (Otago Settlers
Museum Collection)
The
Sunbeam Mixmaster, first introduced in 1930,
became an icon of the new household conveniences
developed in the 1930s. Its governor-controlled
motor and 'Mix-Finder' dial made mixing
much easier. For the modern housewife who
possessed a Mixmaster, baking day would
never be the same again. (Otago Settlers
Museum Collection)
Schulyer
Wheeler devised the first electric fan in
1886. This electric fan is thought to date
from the 1930s and further exemplifies the
introduction of electrical conveniences
to the modern home. (Otago Settlers Museum
Collection)
Compared
to coal fires, electric heaters were quick,
clean, economical, space saving devices
and again typify the leap forward into modern
times. The models pictured here are an American-made
Westinghouse convection heater from around
1925 (shown left) and a British-made Haloberry
Electric Fire radiant heater produced about
1935. (Otago Settlers Museum Collection)
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