Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/143040
60 Years Ago continued Sixty years ago, architects, manufacturers, suppliers, or owner/operators did almost all kitchen designs because there were few independent kitchen design/consulting firms.Those who performed this work were called "kitchen engineers," which may have raised their esteem with architects and contemporaries of that time. Whatever they were called, a case can be made that many of them understood basic workflow and efficient equipment arrangement better than some of our current kitchen designers—independent or otherwise. Cost-Driven, InnovationStaggered Why has the equipment side of our industry seen so little improvement? The answer may be something that happened during a small window of fresh thinking that occurred about 30 years ago. This was perhaps the only golden age of the foodservice equipment industry. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, construction exploded in almost every kind of facility that needed a commercial kitchen—new hotels, hospitals, colleges and schools sprouted everywhere. Chain and franchised restaurants flourished. Exciting new equipment innovations filled the NRA shows and trade magazines of that era. Cres Cor (Crown-X and Instamatic), Neff and Voss introduced a whole range of conveyor-type continuous batch process cooking, baking and frying equipment used in Germany. Several manufacturers demonstrated ultrasonic pot and dishwash machines. A few were actually installed. Adamation developed carousel dishwashers that could be operated by a single employee for the then growing Howard Johnson chain. Nieco introduced conveyor broilers for Burger King, and GE, Raytheon Radarange®, and Litton tried very hard to sell the new-fangled microwave ovens at the various equipment shows, often with little success. Why didn't these products take hold and flourish? The development of the commercial microwave oven is an excellent example of cause and effect. While commercial microwave ovens were sold in the early 1960s, it took almost 20 years for them to become an accepted tool in most commercial kitchens, and this was mostly a result of their huge popularity in homes. Today, I wouldn't be surprised if there aren't more combi ovens going into gourmet home kitchens than in commercial kitchens. Take away the major chains, and independent foodservice operators are some of the most conservative and least continued on page 36 Dearly DepartedRemember when you sold these brands of equipment? Alfred Brundage (Automatic coffee creamer) American Laundry Machinery (silver burnishers) Apextro (food warmers) AutoSan (dishwashers) Bastian Blessing (soda fountain/ fabrication) Branick (knife sharpeners) B/W Metals (ovens and Circleserve cafeterias) Cockle (exhaust hoods) Commodore Products (counter equipment) Cory (coffee and warming equipment) Cradle-Queen (hamburger rotisseries/ barbecue) Dalison (hot dog equipment) Everfrost (refrigerated display cases) FEI (food warming equipment) Faulds (revolving ovens) FMC (disposers) Frigidaire (Commercial Ice Makers) Frigid Igloo (walk-in coolers) General Electric (full line- cooking, warewashing) Glenco (refrigerators) Gruendler Crusher Co. (food prep and disposers) Greoetchen Broil-O-Matic- (cooking) Herrick (refrigerators) Hewitt Robins (pot washers) Hotpoint (countertop electric equipment) Jet Spray (visual beverage dispensers) IBM (Slicers, grinders, and scales) Instamatic (ovens & braising pans) Kawnee ( Pot & Dishwasher) 34 FEDA News & Views Koch (refrigerators) Kraeft (silver burnishers) LaCross (ice makers and bins Lectro (booster heaters) Majestic (ranges) Magic and Master Chef (ranges) Martin (deck and convection ovens) Merritt (food warmers) Mr. Quick Quick-O-Matic (fryers) National Disposer (Food Waste Disposers/ Grinders) Puffer-Hubbard (refrigerators) Reatone (Refrigerators) Remcor (ice dispensers) Raytheon (microwave ovens) Seco (Dish &Tray Dispensers) Stanley Knight (Soda Bar & Counter Equipment) Star (undercounter refrigeration) Star Metal (refrigerated sandwich units) Starline (beverage dispensers) Stonite (undercounter refrigerators) Sweden (soft serve freezers) Toledo (dishwashers) Treloar (vegetable cutters) Universal (revolving ovens) Vacuum Can Company (Beverage Containers & Can Washer)Vischer (steam cookers) Washington Equipment (fabrication) Weben (pressure fryers) Wilson Metal (fryers)