Mystery Tappan Pan-o-matic Appliance from 1970

[andrewwall]

Hello all,

I am a new poster, but have loved this forum for years. I finally have a question that someone on this site must know the answer to.

I purchased a NOS appliance from the local Habitat Re-store that was manufactured by Tappan in 1970, according to the Computer Data Card. It consists of a control unit that has switched controls, and then separate small appliances. I can't imagine what the purpose of or market for this product was. Everything is still in the original packaging.

Thanks for any help. I'll try to post photo's this weekend.

Andrew

 

[tomturbomatic]

The concept range was a board with outlets with sufficient amperage to operate many plug in electric cooking appliances like skillets, saucepans and Dutch Ovens. Someone else here found one several years ago. Plug in electric appliances fell out of favor perhaps as a result of more people getting dishwashers and putting the cookware in with the dishes. Perhaps another factor was finding that, while controlled temperatures were nice for perfect eggs and pancakes, if you watched what you were doing at the stove, thermostatically controlled pans were not mandatory for turning out well prepared foods and not really needed for most other things.

What is interesting is that pictures of some of the first electric ranges had similarly powered cooking utensils that plugged into a panel below the glass doored ovens and this was in the 1920s. They were essentially hotplates under skillets and other pans.

 

[turquoisedude]

Ah! So this must be like the Sunbeam control centre units that were built in to the wall. I do believe that Westinghouse had a similar offering with retractable small appliance cords (like the GE Kitchen Centre has).

I've never seen a Tappan version - looking forward to seeing the photos of this!!

 

[gansky1]

Didn't the Tappan also have plug-in elements to use with your favorite cookware? It's been a while since we've seen one of these come up, it would be fun to have in a second kitchen or bar area.

 

[tomturbomatic]

I believe you are right, Greg. It was quite a contraption.

 

[combo52]

Tappan Pan O Matic

Hi Andrew, I bought on of these from the Akron area of Ohio several years ago off E bay, mine was a very lightly used unit that was installed in the rec-room of a fancy home, most of the cookware was never even taken out of the boxes. These were a cool idea but were just too different for most homeowners to embrace. Ours will get installed in the museum project we are working on here in Beltsville Md. If you have any questions about yours contact me or if you decide not to use it let me know, thanks John.

 

[hydralique]

Pan O Matic . . .

Regardless of what this thing does or whether or not it is useful, who wouldn't want something with such a fabulous name?

 

[andrewwall]

Thanks for the great info!

I will be cleaning out the summer kitchen where this is stored in late May. I'll post some photo's then and I likely will be selling it, although I would consider donating it to a 501 (c)(3) appliance museum.

As I recall, the plug ins are green. . .

 

[andrewwall]

Photo's attached. NOS Tappan Pan-o-matic

I hope this link works. I wish I had somewhere to install this, as it is fabulous.

http://https//plus.google.com/photos/112462433152945231019/albums/5879518739459252337?authkey=CIeKtJGP77-JXg

 

[vintagekitchen]

link isn't working..