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The electric mixer: a brief history

The electric mixer, as we know it today, was invented in 1919 by Stephen Poplawski, owner of the Stevens Electric Company. In 1922, after continuing to perfect his invention, Poplawski patented the blender and began selling it through his company, Stevens Electric Company, as a “beverage mixer.” This device was mainly sold to pharmacy soda fountains to make smoothies and malts. The Stevens Electric Company was bought by Oster Manufacturing in 1946 and Oster was bought by Sunbeam Products in 1960. Sunbeam Products still exists today, so you can still buy a direct descendant of the original blender.

A few years after the Poplawski blender was introduced in 1935, Fred Osius (who was also involved in founding the Hamilton Beach Company) developed his own blender and with funding from Fred Waring. A few years later, Waring Products produced and sold the “Miracle Mixer” for home use. This appliance was known as a Waring Blendor (not a blender). As an interesting side note, Fred Waring was a popular musician, bandleader, and radio and television personality at the time. Waring Products is now owned by Conair, but their line of blenders is still known as “Waring Blenders.”

The Vitamix Company released a competing blender (with the more standard spelling) in 1937. Unlike most previous blenders, which used a Pyrex glass jar, the Vitamix blender used a stainless steel jar. In the late 1940s, the Vitamix line became very popular due to television advertising and the Vitamix blender was featured in the first 30-minute infomercial in Cleveland. By the 1950s, the electric blender had become a common kitchen appliance, along with toasters and coffee makers.

In the 1960s, Vita-Mix launched a line of powerful blenders that, in addition to grinding, blending, and blending, could make ice cream, cook soup, and make juice. This made the blenders significantly more versatile and further increased their popularity.

The traditional blender is still a standard accessory in many kitchens, but there are many new modern variations. Some are minor and more in name than function, like the “Smoothie” blender or the “Margarita” blender (a standard blender can do this just as well). Other types of blenders, like immersion blenders, have a completely different design. Immersion blenders are hand-held blenders with a small blade at the bottom and instead of pouring the materials you want to blend into a blender glass, you simply place the immersion blender in the substance you want to blend.

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