Kitchen Aid - History

History

The idea of a stand mixer was formulated by Herbert Johnson, an engineer working at the Hobart Corporation. He had been inspired after seeing a baker mix dough, and thought that there must be a better way of doing the task. Development began, in 1914, the model "H" mixer was launched for industrial work. The U.S. Navy ordered mixers for two new Tennessee class battleships, the California and the Tennessee, as well as the U.S. Navy's first dreadnought battleship, the South Carolina. In 1917, Hobart stand mixers became standard equipment on all U.S. Navy ships, prompting development to begin on the first home models.

The first machine to carry the KitchenAid name was the 10 quart C-10 model, introduced in 1918 and built at Hobart's Troy Metal Products subsidiary in Springfield, OH. Prototype models were given to the wives of factory executives, and the product was named when one stated "I don't care what you call it, but I know it's the best kitchen aid I've ever had!" They were initially marketed at the farmhouse kitchen and were available in hardware stores. But owing to the difficulty in convincing retailers to take up the product, the company recruited a mostly female sales force, which sold the mixers door-to-door. The C-10 machine was also marketed heavily towards soda fountains and small commercial kitchens, and was also sold under the FountainAid and BakersAid model names.

In 1922, KitchenAid introduced the H-5 mixer as its new home-use offering. The H-5 mixer was smaller and lighter than the C-10, and had a more manageable five quart bowl.

The model "G" mixer, about half the weight of the "H-5", was released in August of 1928. In the 1920s several other companies introduced similar mixers, with the Sunbeam Mixmaster becoming the most popular among consumers until the 1950s. KitchenAid mixers remained popular, with the factory selling out of products each Christmas in the late 1930s. Having shut down production for the duration of the Second World War, the factory started up again in 1946 with production moving to Greenville, Ohio, to expand capacity. The product range expanded beyond stand mixers for the first time in 1949, with dishwashers being introduced.

In 1985, the company purchased the Chambers Company to incorporate its range of cookers into the KitchenAid brand. After being cleared by a Federal appeals court in January 1986, Whirlpool Corporation were cleared to purchase KitchenAid after initial complaints regarding competition from dishwasher manufacturers White Consolidated Industries and Magic Chef were dismissed. Refrigerators were added to the product line later in 1986. The company used the popularity of celebrity chefs during the late 1980s to seize the chance to expand its customer range. In 1988 as retailer Williams-Sonoma was opening new stores across the United States and released a cobalt blue stand mixer for the company. Although the retailer had been carrying KitchenAid products since 1959, the new stores introduced the mixers to a wider range of home cooks. This combined with a change in marketing strategy for KitchenAid, which resulted in a doubling of brand awareness over the course of the following three years.

KitchenAid began manufacturing blenders and other small appliances in the mid-1990s. The brand was further promoted by sponsoring the PBS show Home Cooking, and by introducing the mixers to television chefs such as Julia Child and Martha Stewart. Following the success with William-Sonoma, specific point of purchases were set up in department stores such as Kohl's and Macy's. Specific color mixers were released for specific retailers or to benefit charities, such as a pink mixer released to raise funds for breast cancer research. The ProLine range of appliances was launched in 2003 with an initial six month exclusivity agreement with William-Sonoma.