Which Waring Blendor Is Older?

[midcentnurse]

turquoisedude, yea it was an immediate turnoff. ive seen a few sunbeams around i may contact the guy who refurbs them and find just the right one. i hate to make the nutone jealous, esp since he has to live in the same spot all his life but, even as a blender, pretty pathetic

 

[rp2813]

So

It appears the answer to this thread's title question is . . . both?

 

Here's a shot of a Waring magazine ad from 1952.  If you look closely at the lineup of blendors at the bottom (select the "view full size" option), you'll see from left to right the subject blender, the beehive one-speed, the beehive two-speed, and the rocket ship.   This suggests to me that all of these styles and models were available in 1952.

 

Without a serial number database, I don't think there's any way to determine how old a Waring blendor is.

 

[rp2813]

Pictures For Jon

The FC2 Blendor arrived on Monday.  Unfortunately, the seller is entirely ignorant about how the USPS treats packages, used a box that the base and carafe barely fit in and couldn't possibly accomodate enough cushioning material, the contents were not packed tight enough to prevent shifting, and of course the carafe was in pieces when it arrived.  Probably with the first toss of the package after the USPS got its hands on it.  Not even marked "fragile" or "glass" anywhere on the box.

 

Not to worry too much, since I have spares, but the ice crusher blade assembly on the broken carafe was a selling point.  I'll salvage it and use it on another carafe.

 

The cleaning process involved three steps:  1) Hitting the base with "Totally Awesome" spray and going over the whole thing with a soft toothbrush to remove grease and grime, 2) Applying white appliance touch-up to the nicks and scrapes (most noticeable on the tops of the legs in the picture but not so much in ambient lighting), and 3) Polishing with Meguiars Car Cleaner/Wax to restore a nice shine to the finish. 

 

The first four "before" shots are from the ebay listing.  I'm happy with how it turned out.  The nicks and scrapes disappeared with prudent application of the touch-up.  It's entirely presentable and I think I prefer the older look of the painted legs to the chrome ones found on some models.  I paired it up with a very early carafe that has four sections marked off up the sides.  I presume each section indicates one cup's worth of liquid.

 

[ea56]

You did a beautiful job cleaning and restoring this blender! I had one just like this that I bought at the Salvation Army for $5.00 in 1972. I used this blender fro many years and I regret that I eventually got rid of it and replaced it with a new blender in about 1986. The new one was a POS compared to this classic Waring. Hope you get many years of use from this beautiful blender.

 

[jetcone]

Nice job

and the waterfall glass carafe looks stellar. That is the first white bodied version I have seen, that has white legs not chrome.

 

 

 

[rp2813]

Thanks Jon. 

 

It wasn't until I started pulling up pictures of FC models that I realized painted legs are unusual.  After seeing them up close, I prefer the painted legs.  The base is more of a cream than white, and combined with the black grooves on the legs, it makes for a classic and elegant art deco color combination.  The grooves on the painted legs are a detail not found on chrome legs.

 

The blender runs like a dream and takes up less space than the average blender on the small wet bar in the den.  Its small footprint was the primary motivation for getting myself an FC model.  Regardless of whether it's newer or older than my trusty old beehive, I love its styling and it fits perfectly on the bar.

 

I bought margarita and pina colada mix today since we're having daytime temps around 80.  The spiffed up blender will be rendering slushy cocktails before the weekend is over.

 

 

 

[jetcone]

Ralph

Just scored this beauty, and in the intervening 10 years I learned Fred Osius hooked up with Fred Waring for promotion and Fred Waring put in $25,000 in 1938ish.  Fred Waring was a band leader of the Pennsylvanians, and they performed at "El Rancho Adolphus" which was a dude health food ranch owned by Adolphus Honhensee who was a health food promoter in the late 1930s ! So Osius could not develop a seal for the blades so, Waring really owning the company turned that over to an Ed Lee who came through! And there was Oster making a blender so Waring changed the name to "Blendor"! Waring named the early Rocket blendor and called it "The Adolphus" . Adolphus got sued later for false credentials, its very incestuous all this. LOL 

 

[jetcone]

Just scored the original blades that are in the 1938 Patent

I could not believe my find initially! Copper is my favorite !  See the two scimitar blades, later models they were replaced. 

 

[rp2813]

WOW Jon Charles!  Just WOW!

 

They are both beauties but the Adolphus paired with your research suggests that the rocket type preceded the "waterfall" or what I call the Christmas tree style.  I suspect both types were manufactured simultaneously for a certain period of time during the '40s, but that specific information has eluded me.

 

The Adolphus has to be super rare, and yours seems to have seen little use, or was very well maintained.  It's a true showcase example of Waring's earliest offering.   The copper one, which I think is a model 435 or 735 (there may be an alphabetical suffix) is it's own version of rare, as I've never seen one before, not even among the reproduction Warings that are made today in that same retro style.  And this reminds me of Waring's 50th anniversary contest to find the oldest Blendor still in use.  This was pre-internet and I never saw a picture of the Blendor that won.  Now I'm curious and will try to hunt down this information.

 

As for the blades, that you got two of the superior original type is equally amazing.  The carafe for my rocket model has that same blade and it makes short work of crushing ice crescents.  Why they ever abandoned that blade design is beyond me. 

 

For the past couple of months I've been making a home version of Orange Julius with my rocket blender on the bar and they turn out smooth as silk with no ice chunks in only about 30 seconds or less  of blending time.  Normally, my '60s Lady Kenmore (Osterizer) with sliding speed control and "Fusion" type blade sits on the kitchen counter, but starting usually in February it gets replaced by my Breville Citrus Press for the duration of orange season.  The LK is great at crushing ice, but it requires Oster's crazily configured 3-bladed Fusion design to accomplish it.  My rocket Waring is close to 30 years older and can render as good or better results with just two blades in a simple crisscross configuration.

 

Oh, and by the way, I seem to have discovered the secret ingredient for the Orange Julius drinks we used to get from those franchises:  around 1/3 can of sweetened condensed milk.  How they ever managed that in a powdered form, I don't know, but it sure did capture the unique flavor I remember.

 

[qsd-dan]

Toploader55

Damn, I really miss that guy. RIP Ed

 

[tolivac]

The famous Waring “rocket” blender-at one time these were sold as “bar” blenders