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The Raupp Museum Online Database

Kitchen Technology in Buffalo Grove

The Newest and Oldest Tech

When we think of the newest and latest technology, the kitchen doesn’t always come to mind. The variety of technology to help us heat up food, keep food cold, and mix ingredients changed quickly. Some items, like toasters, have been around for over 100 years but the design has been updated and made safer. Newer technologies, like the microwave, didn’t become popular (and affordable) in homes until the 1970s. Take a look at some of these kitchen tech tools from the 1920s – 1980s.

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Electric Toaster
Ca. 1921


This electric toaster has an art deco style cage on both sides to hold the bread in place against the exposed heating coils, which toasted your bread. Two bakelight knobs on top are used to swing the panel around to toast the other side of the bread.


How does this toaster compare to one in your house?

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Click the fridge to see an inside picture as well

Refrigerator
Ca. 1940s

Refrigerators were a new kitchen technology starting in 1913. Although the technology was more widely available in home units starting in 1923, it didn’t mean everyone was able to afford or maintain a refrigerator in their home. This GE Deluxe Refrigerator was most likely brought to Buffalo Grove after the 1940s when the family moved here. There is a tiny freezer inside the fridge, and a non-refrigerated storage drawer on the bottom.

Click on the picture of the fridge to see what it looks like inside as well. 

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Kitchen Scale
Ca. 1960s

This Detecto Kitchen Scale was a handy tool for weighing ingredients when baking and cooking. This 25 pound metal scale measured in one ounce increments with a fine adjustment knob on the top under the scale. Measuring ingredients to the ounce can be very important for certain recipes, especially when baking.

What recipes have you used a scale for?

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Microwave Oven
Ca. 1984


This microwave was made by General Electric in 1984. While stylistically it may seem different from the one in your kitchen, this microwave works the same way. Microwaves heat food using radiation. Radiation causes the food molecules to get excited, jump around, and warm up.


Microwaves have become a common household item. How often do you use the microwave?

Kitchen Technology in Buffalo Grove