Until I saw this advertisement for Blue Whirl Egg Beaters in a hundred-year-old magazine I’d forgotten all about hand crank beaters. I think that I once owned one, but have no idea where it is. I haven’t used it in years. The last time I used it was when my children were small and I didn’t trust them to use my electric beaters.
Does anyone still use classic hand-crank beaters? I did a quick online search and hand-crank beaters are still available, but the comments made it sound like they are difficult to find in stores and generally must be purchased online.
According to Home Grail, a commercial-sized electric mixer was invented in 1914, and home stand mixers were starting to become available in the 1920s; however, a hundred years ago, hand-cranked beaters were still the norm.
Whisks are another tool that can be used to beat eggs and do other tasks that a hand-crank beater might do. According to Wikipedia, whisks have been around for hundreds of years. The earliest ones were just bundles of twigs that were used to beat foods. Wikipedia noted that whisks were not very popular in the early 20th century and that cooks generally preferred beaters, but that they again became popular after Julia Child used them when she appeared on television.
I remember using a beater like this as a kid. I know my grandmother had one, and I think my mother did, too. I hadn’t thought about one of these in years! 😃
I remember using these. My mother’s had a red wooden handle. Eventually, she passed it on to me, and I kept it for years until at some point I decided it took up too much drawer space for something I never used!
I still use this…it was my mothers’s. -:)
I have my mom’s and I use it now and then, just because. It’s fun!
I still have one! But I don’t know if it has traveled with me all these years, or if it belonged to my husband’s late wife. I use it occasionally, but not nearly as often as my electric mixer.
When I was a beginner cook, I wanted to make my grandmother’s waffles, which called for using an egg beater, so I went out and bought one. It probably was in the early 90s. I also remember beating up Ivory Soap Flakes and water with the egg beater to make snow sculptures.
As soon as I saw the picture of this beater, memories of cooking with my mother when I was small came flooding back. Though I think I was still using one in the early years of my marriage.
My grandmothers and mom used them. My mother-in-law gave me hers when I first got married, over 40 years ago. I used it until I could afford a handheld mixer.
Love this ad! I have a similar one purchased at an antique store. It has a worn, red-and-white wooden handle at the top and on the turning part. There is no brand name. The only words besides the patent number are on the round, silver part toward the top. It says, “high speed super center drive beater.” Guess that could be true if you can turn the handle quickly?! I don’t use it but display it with a few other pieces.