Small Household Appliances

Gone are the days when the major appliance in the kitchen was the fireplace. Until the 19th century, people generally used to cook solely over an open fire and labored over chopping tasks with a curved blade in a bowl. Pioneers spent hours whipping egg whites stiff for cake recipes on a plate with a fork. And I won't even get into the lack of personal grooming tools available. Let's just say shaving involved a blade, a whetstone, and soap made from animal fat.

The Many Uses of Household Appliances

The advent of the electrical age has paved the way for the invention of hundreds of small household appliances to help us with everyday life. Today we save time and elbow grease on daily tasks with the help of appliances that chop our food, brew our coffee--even shave without nicks and cuts! Now that our days aren't caught up in menial tasks, we actually have time to have lives.

It may be tough to contemplate in this age of coffeehouses and espresso bars, but coffee used to be boiled in a pot over the fire. Yum, coffee grounds! Now there are so many different types of coffee makers to choose from; french press, percolator, and drip machines are all popular types. The home espresso maker became more common in the caffeinated '90s, and a few smart companies have since combined coffee and espresso makers to make one space-saving super station. Don't tell me the cowboys of the 1800s wouldn't have appreciated a double-wall stainless steel thermal carafe to keep their coffee hot while on the trail.

A Revolution in Appliances, an Evolution in What We Eat

With an upgrade from the crude kitchen tools of the 19th century, I'm sure people would have eaten less cornmeal mush and more souffles. Many foods we take for granted today just weren't practical for the humble homemaker, unless they had an army of servants. When Ivar Jepson invented the Sunbeam Mixmaster in 1928, suddenly women weren't chained to their mixers all day. The classic stand mixer left them free to take care of business elsewhere. In the 1980s, Cuisinart food processors opened the door to quick and easy homemade bread with its ability to knead pounds of dough.

Some small household appliances have even helped with medical breakthroughs. Dr. Jonas Sark used a Waring blender while inventing the vaccine for polio. When Stephen Poplawski invented the blender in 1922, he had no idea what his spinning blades would achieve. Of course, most of us appreciate blenders for a much different reason--their ability to make perfect frozen drinks. Can you imagine Scarlett O'Hara sipping a strawberry daiquiri instead of a mint julep?

Other small appliances help us maintain our health. These days, battery-powered bathroom scales make a dreaded morning ritual quick and accurate, much to our occasional chagrin. But monitoring our weight can help fight one of our biggest killers, obesity. Salter has even created an amazing nutritional scale that analyzes the weight and food values of what we eat.

The Caveman Look Is Over

Were beards really that fashionable back in the day, or was it just too time-consuming (and potentially hazardous) to get a good close shave every day? Now five o' clock shadows and Rip Van Winkle beards have gone the way of horse-and-buggies. There are dozens of electric shavers on the market, and millions of happy ladies who can see their mens' faces.

The "good old days" had their bright points, but cooking and personal grooming weren't highlights. Tasks we now dismiss as routine were major time-wasters. Today we can achieve more in less time with small household appliances.