Electric kettle
Electric kettle
Name/Title
Electric kettleEntry/Object ID
2025.1.1001Description
Polished copper electric kettle, with a turned wood and brass handle, a black bakelite knob and three black bakelite feet. The bottom is marked with the maker's name (Premier System) and the patent number and the voltage used.Context
The information on the bottom of the kettle states: Premier System. 220/230 volts; 44 amps; Patent number 2655; Serial No H34355. Premier kettles were manufactured in Birmingham in the 1920s. They all featured separate compartments for the water and the element. This model features a safety cut-out mechanism and a reset button. It is thought that the first electric kettle was devised by Crompton & Co. in 1891. By 1907 an electric copper kettle was for sale in the Army and Navy stores catalogue. By 1919 the designers were trying to integrate the element into the kettle rather than in a separate compartment and on 27th August 1919 a patent was applied for by Allen Samuel Ford, a commercial traveller from Taunton, proposed a means of keeping an element submerged so that it would not burn out when the kettle was emptied. Further refinements to the design gave us the electric kettle we have today.Cataloged By
Felix LamCategory
Domestic