I was thinking about my electric hand held mixer

[Ohiogal]

I know, I need to get a life ....

Anyway, I was just now using this old electric hand held mixer to mix my sweet potato casserole for tomorrow.

It gets used throughout the year for whipped potatoes, cake icing, making merengue, etc. it has a dedicated spot in my kitchen drawer.

This mixer came from my mom’s house .... she gave it to me back in the late 70’s when I moved out, because she didn’t think she needed it any more. I don’t know how long she had it before that. It’s a GE and it’s Harvest Gold. On the bottom it says “General Electric, Bridgeport, Conn.” “Made In USA”.

It is still going strong after 40 plus years of use. You sure don’t see that any more.

[True Blue American]

1. Harvest Gold was a 1970 thing. I had Harvest Gold washer and Dryer

They lasted 40 years.Frigidaire.

[Grasswire2]

2. Sweet. I found my vintage Kitchen Aid at an estate sale.

I think it's from the 1930s. It hums along like a champion. I love it.

My son has a new Kitchen Aid and I hate that machine.

[sinkingfeeling]

3. I have an electric hand mixer, a Hamilton Beach, I got as a wedding present in

1967..... still going great at 53.

[Ohiogal]

4. Wow you've got me beat!

[Nay]

17. My Hamilton Beach is about that old and it still runs like a top. I occasionally look at

new electric hand mixers and then say to myself -- why? Yours works great!

[catrose]

5. I have a GE harvest gold stand mixer from the 70s

Works great. I wish I could still find replacement beaters. I’ve replaced them a few times when they show rust.

[Cicada]

6. An interior designer for Cambridge had to design furniture to last 1000 years

He was given that specification for his furniture and fixtures for a new student residence, expected useful life 1000 years. New College at Oxford has that name because it was founded in 1379. Its still going strong. So some things are still built to last.

[central scrutinizer]

7. Cast iron waffle iron patented 1901

Sits over a gas burner, don’t think it would work on an electric range. Works great.

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vintage-stover-ideal-cast-iron-waffle-1880061774

[MrsMatt]

42. I have my grandmother's

General Electric waffle maker - the Diana model. Still use it a couple of times a year.

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/general-electric-ge-vintage-waffle-1800057790

[IcyPeas]

8. this is my hand mixer.... by Waring

I've had it since either late 70s/early 80s. 3 speeds. Works fine. I never thought of it as vintage but I guess it is. Looks like it could be called Harvest Gold too.

[Ohiogal]

9. Change the logo from Waring to GE

And that could be mine.

[IcyPeas]

10. happy mixing and happy thanksgiving

enjoy your sweet potato casserole!!

[Ohiogal]

11. Thanks

And same to you!

[yellowdogintexas]

28. or Sunbeam and it could be mine

when we got married, hubs had a hand mixer he'd picked up at a thrift shop. Well, eventually it just died. Well turns out his mom had one just like it and when we divvied up the household goods, I took that mixer. That was in 1997 - I am still using it. I saved the beaters from my old one and I now have two sets of beaters.

Many years ago I made divinity with my ex mother in law's really cheap hand mixer and it burned out the motor.

[Fla Dem]

12. Isn't wonderful how inanimate objects can trigger such wonderful memories.

[Chainfire]

13. I collect old clocks from as far back as the 1870s

If taken care of, they will still be ticking in another hundred years. They are amazing machines. As I sit here, one just binged on the half hour, there are nine of the banging away in the space I am in, and others scattered over the house. In the days that these were designed and built, people bought for quality and reparability. Now people buy for cheap. Companies make products you have to replace often because you can't make billionaires on products that last lifetimes.....

[Ohiogal]

14. So true.

Although not many of us can afford quality items plus they are hard to find.

In general, products were just made better in years past. Now everything is cheap junk.

[Chainfire]

31. That is true for everything I can think of except for cars.

They are so superior to out boats of the 60s. Remember when car were considered worn out at 50,000 miles? No seat belts, maypop tires, mechanical brakes? Some nostalgic folks try to tell you they were better back then, and it is a damn lie!

[Ohiogal]

32. Yes I agree about cars!

50,000 miles and they rusted out!

[lastlib]

15. My parents bought a Zenith chest freezer in 1962.....

As a child, I played in the box it came in. It finally gave up the ghost in 2014. Last year I replaced its replacement.

It doesn't pay companies to manufacture long-lasting products, becuz fewer repeat sales. So they make crap that has to be replaced more frequently.

[LeftInTX]

30. Wow! We had one the lasted about 10 years, then it died.

We didn't get another one after that. It was in the garage and it flooded when it died, we have too much vermin around here.

[sprinkleeninow]

16. Shouting out to B'port, CT ❣

So nice to hear your memorable mixer account!

A Safe and Happy One to you and yours!

[Ohiogal]

23. Thank you, sprinkleeninow!

And the same back atcha!

[japple]

18. We are still using Mom's old Hamilton Beach chrome stand mixer from the 1960s, and it still

works great. I, too, wish I could find a replacement for the beater as it has a small rusty spot.

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[jmowreader]

34. Try here

https://www.ereplacementparts.com/hamilton-beach-beaters-ps-139382-511.html?source=gaws&gclid=Cj0KCQiAwf39BRCCARIsALXWETxWuAMkcRmOlMqhQCTix9x_VzwVtm3cLa6cgBuEwYAnEgd5q1w8aaQaArgBEALw_wcB

[japple]

35. Thanks. I had already looked and the one I need is not listed. It's so old that it was

probably discontinued many years ago.

[jmowreader]

36. Well...you could do this...

Your beaters are chrome-plated steel. Try taking them to a plating business in town and having them refurbished.

[japple]

38. That's a great idea. Thanks for the suggestion. If there's not one in my town, I'm sure

I can handle it by mail (once DeJoy leaves office!)

[NurseJackie]

19. That's the SAME ONE that I have... harvest gold!

Nothing fancy... it does the trick.

[Ohiogal]

33. Harvest gold

And avocado green were THE colors back then!

[Staph]

20. My mom still has a Montgomery Ward refrigerator from the summer of 1954

when my parents moved into their first house, about six months after I was born.

"Jennifer" (yes, she has a name) became the soft drinks and snacks fridge about 1970. She has outlived at least a half dozen other fridges in the last 50 years and still runs great. The biggest problem is that she has to be manually defrosted, taking a full day to wait for all the built-up ice to melt.

Jennifer will outlive me!

[Ohiogal]

25. Wow!

That’s amazing!

And I thought our 40 year old Amana 18 was old! It’s starting to give us a few problems now. But still in use.

I have an old upright freezer in the basement that needs to be defrosted once a year. What a pain.

[Rebl2]

21. We so

need items like this made here again. Saw an article this morning about a company in another country that is the largest manufacturer of medical type gloves that will have to shut down for about a month because of Covid. That means likely the US will see a shortage of gloves for hospitals, doctor offices, etc. Just when we need them most.

[jmowreader]

37. The inexpensive items like handheld mixers will never be made here again

Or if they are, they'll be made by a robot that's run by one person.

They don't cost enough to make it worthwhile to manufacture in the USA.

OTOH, I bought an InSinkErator Evolution disposer for my new kitchen. It is labeled "the only disposers assembled, designed and invented in the USA."

[lillypaddle]

22. Tell me about it

I still use the blender I got for a wedding present in 1967. I looked at new blenders on Amazon because, while this one still works, things don't get quite as smooth as they once did, if you know what I mean. But seeing the prices, I decided to ride this one out a little longer. The lid is harvest gold, the container is heavy glass.

I also still use a towel from my wedding shower - guess what color? Yep! Damn, that harvest gold was ugly, huh?

53 years and both are still hanging in there. (I finally replaced my hand held mixer a few years ago. )

[Ohiogal]

24. I still have beach towels from when I was a child

We used them every summer on vacations and trips to swimming pools. Probably washed a zillion times. Tags say Made in the USA. No tears, rips, or holes. Just a bit faded.

[applegrove]

26. I remember 50 years ago my mom used to make whipped cream

with a wire wisk. No electricity. Of course we had to help. And it went onto gingerbread. Our go to sweet at the cottage. Yum. Thanks for the memory.

[yellowdogintexas]

27. my mom used to whip egg whites with a flat whip to make meringue

She used an oval platter and in no time she had them all whipped up. I never did learn how to do that - that old thing kind of resembled a tennis racquet with some little coils here and there.

She used the stand mixer if she was making frosting and needed to pour hot syrup into the egg whites.

[applegrove]

29. I went through my grandmothers house after everyone else had. We were giving it up in the 90s.

She had lived there since the late 1920s. I found some kitchen utensils including a hand whip made of pretty thick steel or iron. It could have stirred gravel. Loved it. But i moved so often it ended up lost. Never used it. I had planned to display it in my kitchen if i ever landed in a place i wanted to decorate.

[Niagara]

39. We have a Sunbeam Mixmaster from the 70's.

It was SO's grandmothers before she passed away in the early 2000's. It's still going strong.

[Marthe48]

40. My Mom had a Kitchen Aid

My Dad got her in the late 1950's. We used it all the time growing up, all of us kids learned to use it for everything from mashed potatoes to cake and frosting. it had the grinder attachment and we'd make ham or chicken salad.

After Mom down-sized, I had the mixer and used it until about 1992. My husband got me a new one. I gave my Mom's to my sister, and she got more years of use out of it. The Kitchen Aid my husband got me is still going strong.

I've got one of the hand mixers from the 70's new in the box in the basement. I think it is avocado.

It isn't just a mixer, it is a lifetime of wonderful memories!

[Tracer]

41. My mom's Kitchen Aid stand mixer from the '50s, wound up with me.

I could never use it because the glass bowl was missing.

Newer bowls wouldn't fit and I spent a long time online looking for old bowls. No luck. So it went to the Put & Take at the town dump.

[Marthe48]

43. For my Kitchen Aid, lost the whip attachment

when we moved back to this house. My daughter bought me a new one, but it is too short to reach the bowl. I keep hoping the attachment turns up. It took me over 3 years to find my marble rolling pin. lol There is still another unit and 1/2 to sort through, so I am hopeful.

My daughter uses Free Cycle to pass things along. I suggested she put stuff on the curb. I put stuff out while I was sorting this summer, and it disappeared, yay. My neighbors are conspicuous consumers and the day before trash collection, the same people stop and see what they tossed. If their trash had a Twitter account, it would have followers.