The entire online community joined forces to identify this kitchen utensil.

The entire online community worked together to identify this kitchen utensil.

In 1856, a mixer with rotating parts was patented by Ralph Collier, a tinner from Baltimore, Maryland. This was followed by a whisk patented in England in 1857 by E.P. Griffith. In 1859, J.F. and E.P. Monroe patented another hand-turned rotary egg beater in the US.

Their egg beater patent was one of the earliest acquired by the Dover Stamping Company, whose Dover egg beaters became a classic American brand. The term “Dover beater” was commonly used in February 1929, as seen in a recipe from the Gazette newspaper of Cedar Rapids, IA, for “Hur-Mon Bavarian Cream,” a whipped dessert recipe featuring gelatin, whipped cream, banana, and ginger ale.

The Monroe design was also manufactured in England. In 1870, Turner Williams of Providence, R.I., invented another Dover egg beater model. In 1884, Willis Johnson of Cincinnati, Ohio, invented new improvements to the egg beater.

The first mixer with an electric motor is believed to have been invented by American Rufus Eastman in 1885. The Hobart Manufacturing Company was an early manufacturer of large commercial mixers, and they claim that a new model introduced in 1914 played a key role in the mixer part of their business.

The Hobart KitchenAid and Sunbeam Mixmaster (first produced in 1910) were two very early US brands of electric mixer. Domestic electric mixers were rarely used before the 1920s when they were adopted more widely for home use.

In 1908, Herbert Johnston, an engineer for the Hobart Manufacturing Company, invented an electric standing mixer. His inspiration came from observing a baker mixing bread dough with a metal spoon; soon he was experimenting with a mechanical equivalent.

By 1915, his 20-gallon (80 L) mixer was standard equipment for most large bakeries. In 1919, Hobart introduced the Kitchen Aid Food Preparer (stand mixer) for the home.