General Electric’s 1966 Mixer Gift Set
This hand-held food mixer was made in 1966 by General Electric in Barrie, Ontario, Canada. It's made of three materials, which are rubber, hard plastic, and metal. When you pick it up, it feels medium-weight and is well-made, with careful attention to its shape, color, and design details.
Narrative
CGE’s food mixer, model M7A, is one variation of its product range that is only found to differ from other models of the same design/style by feature and voltage capacity. Our approach to researching this artefact has, then, investigated the physicality of this range of mixers, its social and design connotations, and the society it was introduced into, among other aspects. Majority of the information found online and in archival matter concerns models M7A and M47.
Our object biography focuses on the role and presence of this range of mixers in society from production, to mediation, and to consumption. Prominent findings support interpretations of how CGE (and by extension GE) appealed to Canadian consumers in the years and events prior and after the 1960s through marketing and consumer associations. Research has revealed the life of this mixer when it was a product, and the legacy it preserves for us today as an artefact and heirloom.