For Pete K... Blender pics

[hoover1060]

Kelly,

The jar of that Shetland reminds me some of the old Proctor-Silex blenders of the 70's. Is there a connection there?

 

[mixfinder]

Met behind the wood pile!

Jeff,
You're spot on and if it's conceivable the Shetland was even more "value added" than Proctor-Silex. The glass body percs marketed by Proctor Silex were an exceptional product. They were flawless in design and function.
Kelly

 

[petek]

Shetland and also Lewyt was iirc part of the 70's merger mania with Proctor Silex and Scoville and subsequently SCM (Smith Corona Marchant) or vice versa

 

[hoover1060]

I thought so

I remember those Proctor Silex Blenders back in the 70's for less than $20 at Kmart and Zayre.

Kelly I was reading above on the Kitchenaid 3C, I see the difference now, the 3C's bowl is different.
I just bought some episodes of "The French Chef" on DVD, dear Julia has a couple of different Kitchenaids there, and she's a hoot to watch!
I also see about KA bringing back the multi-purpose beater, I have an Ultra Power KA, 4.5 quart I think(almost the same as today's Artisan models)...from what I read this new beater will not fit my machine?
Bummer if it won't!!

 

[retromom]

Did you say Zayre?!?!?

Oh Lawdy!!

I worked at a Zayre store during my teen years!! My particular store carried major appliances as well. One year my sister and I chipped in and got mom a new washer! Don't even ask me what it was (I don't have "IT"), but I do remember it cost $125.00 at the time!

That is an unusual blender, Veg. The jar almost clashes with the base, except for that bit of green on the label. It would have looked nice with a harvest gold cord too. I assume that the jar is plastic?

Did Shetland make other products? I recall seeing that name on, maybe, an electric broom or something. I am also assuming (again) that the SCM is also the Smith Corona of typewriter fame?

 

[rp2813]

Sunbeam Vista

Kelly, great summary above re: food processors and the demise/re-rise of the blender with the smoothie craze. I have a recent model KA blender that is very quiet, but even though it states it will crush ice at any speed, there always seems to be a stubborn chunk or two that manage to successfully skirt the blades no matter how long you run the thing--at any speed. I also find the touchpad to be cumbersome, but it's not like I use the thing every day. My trusty 450-watt 40's Waring that I've had since the late 70's did as good if not a better job at crushing ice but my partner refused to use it so it has been shelved. Somebody mentioned above that a particular blender was very loud. I don't think you can top the decibel level of the recent retro-beehive Osters with two-speed/pulse toggle switch (hey Steve, if you came with my Oster to help mix things up maybe I would have hung onto it!) which I had for a while. I gave that one to my mom, who is visually impaired so the single switch was perfect for her. Just made a couple of batches of grasshoppers in it for St. Pat's Day over at her place and my ears are still ringing.

Re: Sunbeam Vista, my sister has a 70's vintage food processor of that variety. My mom has the same vintage plain Sunbeam non-Vista type, and I do too, found it for $15 at a gargage sale and it was hardly used. The Vista model has an extra "shooter" attachment that I think sends sliced stuff into an adjacent bowl (you provide the bowl) and that actually is something I'd find convenient.

When my mom bought her Sunbeam processor new, she worked at Macy's at the time. She chose Sunbeam over Cuisinart because it had a larger capacity, and the Sunbeam was actually more expensive. Does anyone know if the Sunbeam is a better machine than Cuisinart? At least the 70's vintage ones?

 

[jamiel]

THe Sunbeam (LeChef) is slightly less capable than the Cuisinart of the 1970s, although slightly more convenient (tall-stem blades, on/off/pulse switch, slightly larger bowl). That said, they left all others (GE, Hamilton Beach, Waring, Moulinex, ...) in the dust.

I remember getting my mom one for Christmas in about 1979...putting $50 in a savings account at Carondelet Federal (as I recall) where I could buy it for $49.95 if I recall (back in the day when they gave out toasters etc).

We'd gotten her a KitchenAid mixer about 5 years before (avocado green small one with the all-purpose beater...my brother inherited that). She's upgraded from that too.

I've got a cobalt blue KA which I got about 12 years ago, a 20 year old Waring Blendor which I just can't part with although it isn't very good (I did spring for the $5 extra for a glass jar), an Oscar mini-processor (bought with my discount in 1986 at LS Ayres in Cincinnati when I worked there ).

I view hand mixers and vertical blenders as disposables....although my mom had an excellent GE infinite speed hand mixer that she got rid of but I coveted...alas.



I still have it--motor is sound, have replaced bowl at least 2x and blades 2 or 3x. Still works like a champ.

 

[veg-o-matic]

Venus, I know Shetland sold a bunch of different vacuums; they're in all the old Spiegel catalogs (this when Spiegel was the tackiest game in town.) I'd see the exact same machines with Lewyt on the label, sometimes both.
Shetland was also a big name in floor polishers; I don't think I've ever seen a Lewyt-badged one, but there's a lot of stuff I haven't seen
This is the first time I've come across a Shetland "small", though I wouldn't be surprised if there was a mixer or toaster or something with the name.

veg

 

[maytagbear]

Sunbeam Le Chef Processor

was very highly rated in the September 1978 Consumer Reports processor article. I used one once, and liked it a great deal, however, the bowl is extremely dark in colour.

I wish Sunbeam had kept it in their line a little longer. They soon switched to a lower priced, and considerably louder belt-drive processor. And then, the Oskar.

I have always had both a processor and a blender, and I use them both. I do find a processor is more versatile, however. Can a blender slice three boxes of mushrooms?

The blender concept my mother found most objectionable was water chopping. As a home economics teacher, she was concerned about the loss of water-soluble vitamins. A loss which was compounded by the fineness of the chop.

Nice collections, and thank you all for sharing these pictures!!

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[hoover1060]

Processor and Blender

Lawrence I have both too, and use them regularly. I use the processor for slicing, and occasional chopping, it makes bread crumbs way faster than a blender, and makes bread without throwing flour all over the kitchen.
I use the blender to chop, make protein shakes, dips, soup, pancakes, and scrambled eggs.

I have always thought of Osterizer as THE blender, I've tried some others but they don't have the quality of the OSter.
I have a Cuisinart processor that I found complete in a thrift shop for $20. I've never had another brand processor and maybe never will, as this Cuisinart seem sturdy enough to last forever.

 

[rp2813]

Lawrence, you're right, the Sunbeam processor does use smoked plexiglass. I wonder what the logic was in that? It hasn't proven to be a problem, but still seems odd now that you've mentioned it.

 

[bobofhollywood]

Waring

The handle comes off this one, which is unique. You push down on the red button and twist the black part like the handle on a bendix front loader, then the chrome part lets go and you can take it all off the glass bowl.
I haven't seen this one around except for this one I've now owned more than half my life time - I got it about 23 years ago already.

 

[seamusuk]

A Couple from over here.....

Hey Guys

These were both NIB when found - the A515 was £12 from Ebay and the larger A520 was 50p!!!!!! from a boot fair.

 

[seamusuk]

Instructions and Guarantee cards

;-)

 

[seamusuk]

Bare wires....

Neither have ever had a plug fitted!

 

[seamusuk]

They are both...

From about the same period in time- somewhere round here....

 

[rp2813]

Waring Handles

Bob, I've got what I suspect is a more primative handle than that one on my old single speed Waring. It has a clip at the bottom end that you snap down to lock the handle in place and it seems to have been designed for use with early slightly thicker glass jars. I think the only other time I've seen one of those was either in a shot on this site or maybe on some collector type show on HGTV. Never seen one like yours with the red release button. Seems Waring is the only maker who did this back when all the jars were still handle-less. I have noticed that the one jar I use the handle with has some small chipping where the handle's lip at the top goes over the glass. I now always use that same corner for the handle so I'm never pouring anything out over a chipped area. I really like this blender even though it's been shelved. I think it had a busy life as a bar blender before I found it in a thrift store sometime in the late 70's.