The Crock-Pot is 75 years old this month, and while you can use this nifty gadget to whip up some sticky wings for your Super Bowl party, cook oatmeal overnight for an instant breakfast or even make homemade organic ketchup (who knew?), the Crock-Pot has had mixed results delivering on one of its advertised benefits: freeing women from the time-consuming tedium of housework.
Inventor Irving Naxon received a patent for an electric slow cooker in January 1940 but did not begin marketing the device until the 1950s, according to an article published on CNET.
Slow cooking is an ancient technique, and Naxon was inspired by his grandmothers experience in Lithuania, where Jewish villagers would bring pots of a bean stew called cholent to cook slowly overnight in the residual heat of bakery ovens that were turned off for the Jewish Sabbath. By the time worship services were over, the stew was ready for the Sabbath meal, Naxons daughter Lenore wrote in the interactive cookbook website BeyondBubbie.com. Naxons original device was called the Naxon Beanery.
The Naxon Beanery was rebranded as the Crock-Pot by the Rival company in 1970. The Crock-Pots popularity grew along with the number of women entering the workforce. Rivals advertising slogan, "Cooks all day while the cooks away," reminded women that they could throw ingredients in the Crock-Pot before work and have dinner ready when they got home.
The availability of electrical home appliances such as the Crock-Pot, washing machine and dishwasher, correlates with an increase in women working, according to several studies cited by a recent article in The Washington Post. In South Africa, for example, one quarter of the population gained access to electricity between 1993 and 2001. Labor-saving electrical devices freed women to enter the paid work force, but increased the total number of hours they spent working.
Women are still doing a greater share of housework than men, the Post reported. Women spend 30 minutes more per day on housework, according to a 2013 Bureau of Labor Statistics survey.
Sunbeam, which now owns the Crock-Pot brand, recently introduced a line of NFL-themed Crock-Pots. This marketing move is likely related to a growing trend of men using Crock-Pots. Theres even a cooking blog, called The Crock-Pot Guys, that promises "awesome Crock-Pot recipes, from a guys point of view."
So a possible takeaway for women is this: If you really want the Crock-Pot to fulfill its promise of keeping you out of the kitchen, get the man in your life to use it.
Inventor Irving Naxon received a patent for an electric slow cooker in January 1940 but did not begin marketing the device until the 1950s, according to an article published on CNET.
Slow cooking is an ancient technique, and Naxon was inspired by his grandmothers experience in Lithuania, where Jewish villagers would bring pots of a bean stew called cholent to cook slowly overnight in the residual heat of bakery ovens that were turned off for the Jewish Sabbath. By the time worship services were over, the stew was ready for the Sabbath meal, Naxons daughter Lenore wrote in the interactive cookbook website BeyondBubbie.com. Naxons original device was called the Naxon Beanery.
The Naxon Beanery was rebranded as the Crock-Pot by the Rival company in 1970. The Crock-Pots popularity grew along with the number of women entering the workforce. Rivals advertising slogan, "Cooks all day while the cooks away," reminded women that they could throw ingredients in the Crock-Pot before work and have dinner ready when they got home.
The availability of electrical home appliances such as the Crock-Pot, washing machine and dishwasher, correlates with an increase in women working, according to several studies cited by a recent article in The Washington Post. In South Africa, for example, one quarter of the population gained access to electricity between 1993 and 2001. Labor-saving electrical devices freed women to enter the paid work force, but increased the total number of hours they spent working.
Women are still doing a greater share of housework than men, the Post reported. Women spend 30 minutes more per day on housework, according to a 2013 Bureau of Labor Statistics survey.
Sunbeam, which now owns the Crock-Pot brand, recently introduced a line of NFL-themed Crock-Pots. This marketing move is likely related to a growing trend of men using Crock-Pots. Theres even a cooking blog, called The Crock-Pot Guys, that promises "awesome Crock-Pot recipes, from a guys point of view."
So a possible takeaway for women is this: If you really want the Crock-Pot to fulfill its promise of keeping you out of the kitchen, get the man in your life to use it.
