William F. George - Antique Electric Waffle Irons 1900-1960: A History of the Appliance Industry in 20th Century America

ANTIQUE ELECTRIC WAFFLE IRONS
1900-1960

William F. George

Copyright 2003 William George. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication

George, William, 1943

Antique electric waffle irons 1900-1960 : a history of the appliance industry in 20th century America / William George.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 1-55395-632-X

ISBN 978-1-4122-5267-6 (ebook)

I. Title.

NK6140.G46 2003 683.83 C2003-900270-5

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Contents

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my parents who taught their children that reading was one of the most valuable and enjoyable skills they could acquire. They were right. I wish they were here to read this.

About The Author

Bill was born in Philadelphia in 1943 but grew up in what was then rural southeast Pennsylvania. He attended Penn State University, acquiring a Bachelor of Science degree in secondary education before pursuing a career teaching science and math. A five year stint of junior high school classrooms in suburban Pennsylvania and rural Ohio, convinced him that a hands-on profession would be far less frustrating and much more mentally rewarding. Two years of specialized training led to a new career as a photo equipment service technician. Bill operated his own wholesale camera repair service in Maryland and Colorado for over 15 years before selling the business and working in industry as a precision scientific instrument-maker. Bills hobbies reflect his love of tinkering with things old and mechanical. In his spare time, when not gardening or practicing photography, he restores antique pocket watches, vintage Ford cars (five so far dating from 1929 to 1950), antique cameras, and vintage appliances.

A poor quality modern-type waffle iron that failed miserably one Sunday morning led the author on a quest for an old-style, no-nonsense waffle iron just like he remembered his mother using back in the pre-Teflon Good old days. One vintage waffle iron led to another and another until he had gathered and restored to like-new condition over three hundred of them. Bills curiosity to know more about these little jewels and the companies that made them led to a four year research project. This book is the culmination of that research, the authors longtime writing avocation, and his love of teaching.

Maggie

(The authors advisor on rabbits & squirrels)

The author, with his wife Pat, lives in Colorado with Maggie a wonderfully loving and gentle dog recently acquired through the Springer Spaniel Rescue League. Bill welcomes any inquiries through the publisher or through his waffle iron web site www.WaffleIronCentral.com.

Without the generosity, support and kindness of the following individuals and organizations, this book would not have been possible. If Ive forgotten anyone, it was unintensional. Please accept my apology. With great appreciation I wish to thank the following

> The Reference Librarians of the Longmont, Colorado Public Library for their cooperation and great patience in processing all of my many requests for information and materials;

> Wayne E. Morris, Director of the Portable Appliance Division of the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM), for industry-wide production records and other information about the history of the appliance industry;

> Vicki Matranga of the International Housewares Manufacturers Association and author of a wonderful book, America at Home (see Bibliography) for several helpful research leads, particularly concerning Dominion Electric;

> Flat iron collector Jay Raymond of Jenkintown, PA. for supplying information and advertising materials about several appliance firms;

> Bill Blakeslee a collector of early electrical appliances in Ambler, PA. for providing insights into several early manufacturers including Simplex, Detroit Electric, and Edison Electric;

> Dan Ruge of Wichita, Kansas for giving me a number of nice waffle irons and introducing me to Herb Ebendorfer, Curator of The Coleman Museum in Wichita (Mr. Ebendorfer supplied a treasure trove of materials and information from The Coleman Museum concerning that companys electric appliance manufacturing in the 1930s);

> David G. Smith, THE expert on The Griswold and Wagner Companies and co-author of two comprehensive books on their products (See Bibliography), generously supplied from his archives information about Griswolds electric appliances;

> Susanne Felman Jacob, of Chalfont, Pennsylvania, author of The History of Joanna Furnace, (See Bibliography), for giving me her insights into colonial era iron furnaces, their methods, products, and especially information about their cast iron waffle irons;

> Nancy Conway, an expert on industrial design and designers, for supplying the numerous patent drawings that appear throughout this book;

> Millie Wilson and Bob Delps of the York Wire and Cable Company, York, Pa. who have for years provided excellent service and supplied me with the high quality special wire needed to restore many of the waffle irons that appear in this book;

> Jerry Lusk, owner of The Camera Broker, Longmont, Colorado, for his always dependable photographic services, supplies, and technicl advice (A camera store of the caliber of the Camera Broker is unmatched even in most large cities);

> Elizabeth Furlow, Curator of Collections for The Museum of History and Industry, Seattle, Washington, for sources of information on industrial history;

> Marion and Roy Phillips, my friends who reside in Aberarth Wales, for information about waffles and waffle irons in England and Wales. (Marian & Roy produce beautifully carved Welsh folk craft items-Crefftau Aberarth Crafts on the Internet;

> Darrell Leonard and her colleagues in the school district at Rotorua, New Zealand, for checking on waffle irons and their usage on the other side of the planet;

> Mr. John G. Nelson for a wealth of information about the Nelson Machine and Manufacturing Company and about the Nelson family members who worked there;

> Mrs. Barbara Gent and her daughter Kimberly for the Kolhase family history and photographs of the National Stamping and Electric Works factory operations;

> Jeff Larson who was kind enough to brave February weather, drive to Elgin, Illinois and take pictures for me of the old Toastmaster factory situated there;