Blender

The invention of a small electric motor, often referred to as the Great Leap Forward for plug-powered domestic machinery. The new motor, known as the fractional horsepower motor, revolutionized the appliance industry and made possible the invention of many power assisted appliances including the blender.

Two Racine, Wisconsin engineers, Chester Beach and Frederick Osius, and a master marketer, Louis Hamilton, made household appliance history by inventing a small motor than ran on either AC or DC electrical power. The first Hamilton Beach product, an electric hand-held massager, was produced in 1910. The same year, Hamilton Beach Manufacturing Company was founded for the sole purpose of developing more "universal" motor-driven appliances.

Stephen Poplawski is credited with inventing the blender in 1922. Poplawski was the first to put spinning blades at the bottom of a container. In 1932, Poplawski, received patents for a machine that would reduce fruits and vegetables to a liquid. You can find blenders in most kitchens in America. They have become an indispensible way to process food and drinks.

The 'Waring Blender' was one of the earliest commercially successful blenders. The most unusual thing about it is it is named after orchestra leader Fred Waring. Frederick Osius worked on improving inventor Poplawski's blender, and went to Waring for financial backing. Waring backed its development, in part, so he could puree raw vegetables for the ulcer diet his doctors prescribed. Waring also delighted in most new inventions. The Waring Blender (originally called the Miracle Mixer) debuted in 1937 and sold for $29.75. By 1954 one million Waring Blendors had been sold.

In 1946, John Oster made a decision to diversify from barber equipment to small house electrical appliances and purchased Stevens Electric, the company that invented the liquefier blender. Soon after, the first Osterizer® blender was introduced.