Sure, modern-day kitchen appliances and tools are nifty and save a lot of time, but do they help to sculpt and tone your biceps when you whip egg whites like a hand-crank beater?
If you had a childhood like mine, you might have used or seen your mother use many of these vintage kitchen tools. But you also probably saw her express frustration and annoyance at them as well.
But one thing is certain: you’ll feel overwhelming nostalgia for a bygone era and these unique vintage kitchen items.
1. Jell-O Mold
Of course, people can find Jell-O molds in thrift stores and perhaps even in their own homes or at their parents, but are they using them for elaborate squishy gelatin desserts these days? They're not, but we believe they should be. Homemakers showed off their incredible cooking skills with all kinds of intricately designed treats made with these molds.
Tiered Jell-O mold desserts were the bee's knees of the 1950s, and they deserve a comeback.
2. Cookie Press
When I was a little girl, the Mirro Cookie Press kit was one of my favorite kitchen tools to use with the help of my mother. The different designs of the aluminum discs that you would squeeze the dough through to make Spritz cookies were so pretty and fun.
Cookie guns made today by Wilton and Kuhn Rikon derive from the original Mirro kit, which came with a whole set of accessories, such as a wooden stand for the decorative discs.
3. Cherry Pitter
The use of apple corers and peelers is still prevalent; however, we don’t see cherry pitters nearly as often. These once-useful tools came in various sizes, from large ones clamped to your tabletop to smaller ones resembling modern-day garlic presses.
The most common ones were often plastic and came in a pretty butter yellow with two finger holes and a spring puncher.
4. Bread Box
Did your family have a bread box? Mine did. It was a wooden one made by a family friend who hand-painted the word "bread" across the front in a fancy script. It was too big for our counter and completely impractical, but it was loved and is still used today in my mom's kitchen.
The first inventor of the bread box isn't known, but Stanley Walter Krebs patented it in 1918 and has seen several designs over the years. Nesco created a metal one with a roll-top opening and an advertisement that read, "Taking a tip from the utility value of grandpa's roll-top desk, Nesco Inc. announces its new roll-top bread box."
5. Hand-Crank Egg Beater
Nowadays, we use electric mixers to beat egg whites to create delightful meringues or use them in certain batters. However, back in the “olden” days, homemakers would pull out their hand-crank beaters and whip those egg whites manually.
It was a great way to keep their arms toned, but I’m sure they were all happy when the manual ones were replaced with the electric stands we all know and appreciate today.
6. Butter Mold
It’s convenient to pop into the market and pick up butter, salted or unsalted, but back in the day, it wasn’t quite that easy. People made their own butter and used a mold to form it. The molds often had flowers or animal designs, creating a much prettier display of the creamy goodness.
What better way to elevate a stylish dinner party or holiday gathering than with a fancy butter mold?
7. Ceramic Butter Dish
I don’t know about you, but I actually still use a ceramic butter dish and keep it on my countertop to ensure I have soft, spreadable butter for toast and other items. Although they’re not as common anymore, butter dishes were all the rage back in the day.
French butter dishes, which use water to keep an airtight seal, were trendy for quite a while but have fallen out of vogue, at least here in the States.
8. Metal Canisters
Decorative metal canisters that stored flour, sugar, rice, and other dried goods once adorned the countertops of many homes. If your grandma or mom still has their set, tell them to hold onto it because the more vintage or retro-looking it is, the more desirable it is!
Collectors of these vintage sets will pay good money for ones in excellent condition, and it’s not uncommon to see vintage-inspired sets for sale at popular home goods stores.
9. Recipe Box
I have fond memories of pulling out well-loved notecards with handwritten recipes by my mom, grandmothers, and aunts from the wooden recipe box that was next to the bread box. Reading their cursive writing and trying to decipher measurements and ingredients still makes me smile.
Traditionally, these boxes were wooden but eventually made with metal or colorful plastic, which often sported little flower bouquets or bunches of vegetables.
10. Strainer Sieves
Strainer sieves were a farmhouse must-have, especially if your grandmother or mother often preserved their own jams, jellies, and tomato sauces. The sieve, used for separating desired elements from unwanted ones, was a common household item made of tin. It was cone-shaped and came with a stand.
Often, the user would use a pestle to press the fruit or vegetable, allowing its liquid to drain into a bowl set underneath the sieve.
11. Condiment Serving Tray
Condiment serving trays are still technically used today, but they look different. Retro-designed ones were usually on a stand with three glass bowls attached, each with a small ladle for serving—other ones stored oil and vinegar in glass bottles and a wire caddy.
They were a standard accessory on any dining table of the 1960s, but we rarely see them outside of old-fashioned diners anymore.
12. Cake Breaker
The cake breaker might sound scary, but it actually looks scarier. The antique metal tool resembles oversized combs combined with a knife. It delicately cuts through cakes like Angel Food without crushing them or leaving crumbs. Patented in 1932 by Cale Schneider, they were initially coined "food breakers" but were later called cake breakers.
These vintage tools might not be as popular as they used to be, but they're helpful inventions that deserve a comeback.
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