Classic products that were just great designs to begin with

[prberk]

I have a classic Tupperware mixing bowl with spout and handle that was my grandmother's before mine, and I was thinking today there has never been a better design for something to mix batter in (for pancakes or brownies or cakes or just about anything that has to be mixed by hand). I don't know if any of you ever grew up with this, but it is perfect. It's formal name was "mix-n-store" but I always knew it as grandma's mixing bowl. It held a whole box of cake mix or a pretty good amount of pancake batter, and was rounded at the bottom interior, making mixing very easy. While there is a more modern version (which is too squared off on the bottom to work as well), this version was in many homes for decades. I have attached a pic. (This one, like mine, has no top, but they came with a top, which flipped back over the spout.)

Anyway, it just made me think of the little things that someone got very right, and that have served us for decades. I thought it would be cool to make a thread dedicated to these types of things: the things that we have had for years, or our parents did, that still work well today (or even better than their modern counterparts).


While I am at it, I am also including the classic Tupperware "Shape-O" toy. I remember thinking it was great. I probably played with it, but I most remember helping my little brothers find the shapes to put in it -- and then pulling it apart for them all to fall out again. What an amazingly simple and classic design for a toy for toddlers.

 

[Master Yoda]

The humble crowbar. The word itself dates back to the 15th century. The tool goes back pretty much as far as the ability of humans to work with metal.

 

[MinnieM123]

I enjoy discussing retro stuff. O.k. I have one to share with you @prberk . It's not quite as good as yours, but I recall that my grandparents always had what I'd call "double purpose" egg cups. I put a picture below that I found on the web. You see, they both had eggs for breakfast most mornings. My grandmother would have a soft boiled egg and crack it open, in the small end of the cup, and eat it out of the shell. My grandfather preferred hard boiled, chopped eggs. He used the larger "bowl" side of the egg cup for his chopped eggs, that he removed from the shells (he used to put a little butter in them, too! ).

I know--egg cups are not very exciting, but I thought it was a clever, practical design.

 

[lazyboy97o]

There is a pretty good book sort of related to this, The Evolution of Useful Things: How Everyday Artifacts - From Forks and Pins to Paper Clips and Zippers - Came to be as They Are by Henry Petroski. The paperclip is probably the most memorable example, something so simple that we purchase by the hundreds, but there was a time when a simple device to hold paper together was an unsolved problem that resulted in several different patented paper clip designs.

 

[prberk]

I enjoy discussing retro stuff. O.k. I have one to share with you @prberk . It's not quite as good as yours, but I recall that my grandparents always had what I'd call "double purpose" egg cups. I put a picture below that I found on the web. You see, they both had eggs for breakfast most mornings. My grandmother would have a soft boiled egg and crack it open, in the small end of the cup, and eat it out of the shell. My grandfather preferred hard boiled, chopped eggs. He used the larger "bowl" side of the egg cup for his chopped eggs, that he removed from the shells (he used to put a little butter in them, too! ).

I know--egg cups are not very exciting, but I thought it was a clever, practical design.

Now, that is innovative. And yet, so simple.

And so was the paper clip, @lazyboy97o .

There are so many things that we use today that just get none of the glory of the latest tech gadget, but definitely save us time or solve problems.

What are some other things like this in your life?

 

[epcotisbest]

 

[MOXOMUMD]

I still use both.