National Waffle Day is celebrated on August 24, the date in 1869 on which when Cornelius Swarthout of New York received the first U.S. patent for a stovetop waffle iron. The word "waffle" first appeared in the English language more than a hundred years earlier, in 1725; waffles had been a not-uncommon food, particularly among Dutch immigrants, but Swarthout's waffle iron added a shorter handle and clasp to make flipping easier.
We have several waffle irons in our Museum collection, though they all date to eras post-U.S.-patent. This simple cast iron waffle maker is likely the oldest, from the 1870s or 1880s. There are no makers marks or labels, and the pin is missing from inside the rotation area. The iron would be placed over the coals and then flipped halfway through cooking. See it on display in our 19th-century kitchen.
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By the 1910s, General Electric and other companies were experimenting with electric waffle irons like we use today. This 1940s electric Sears Kenmore waffle iron was donated to the Museum in 1998. The Bakelite - an early plastic - handles are brittle but intact. The waffle iron worked when it was donated, but we haven’t tested it since!
Will you celebrate National Waffle Day with some of the treat?