Warming plates

A feature of the breakfast table in more middle-class homes was the electric warming plate which allowed cooked food to be kept warm and conveniently on hand. These were often highly decorative and designed to appeal to the refined, traditional taste of the British middle class in the 1930s. Some manufacturers offered a range of size options and a few examples were so large that they had to be relegated to the sideboard.

Table-top cookers

A new product was the electric table-top 'breakfast cooker', consisting of a single hotplate with a tiny oven or grill beneath. These were either made from folded, stove-enamel steel or vitreous-enamel cast iron. The big advantage was that, being lower-powered than a conventional cooker, they could be plugged into any wall socket, rather than permanently wired into the mains and could therefore be used anywhere in the house. Some manufacturers made wildly optimistic claims about their product's capacity, showing 'Breakfast for Eight' simmering on their tiny cooker. Despite the intention of being used on the breakfast table, few designs made the same concessions to elegance as the warming plate and they remained utilitarian objects. The breakfast cooker was perfected in the 1951 model of the 'Baby Belling'. This example outlasted virtually all its competitors, and went on to be put to good use in flats, by single people and the elderly.

Boiling rings

Smaller still were single-plate, electric boiling rings for use on the breakfast table, for boiling kettles or saucepans. These were among the earliest electrical appliances available, from the early 1900s. Some had a solid hotplate (similar to those used on electric cookers) while others used the nichrome element embedded in a ceramic base from the electric heater. The cheaper types simply required plugging in, while others were controlled by a cooker-type switch with a choice of heat settings. An alternative to the boiling ring and kettle for small amounts of liquid was the immersion heater, an insulated nichrome element to be hooked over the side of a jug, cup or beaker.

Dual-purpose heaters

Many pre-1939 electric heaters included a provision for cooking, starting with the first heater to use a nichrome element, the Belling of 1912. The element was either vertically-mounted for toasting or horizontally-mounted for boiling, with a grille or rack provided to support the necessary utensils. The elaborate Belling 'Turnbar' of 1927, however, had a counter-balanced upper element that could be swung through 90 degrees, heating a flat grille on top for cooking. These dual-function electric heaters were intended to be used for afternoon tea in the living room and were merely assuming the functions of the traditional cooking range. Two functions also provided a double incentive for the prospective purchaser.

• 1915 Belling boiling ring
• 1927 Belling Turnbar heater/cooker
• 1931 Premier heater/cooker
• 1932 GEC Magnet warming plate
• 1932 Berkeley & Young Nippy table-top cooker
• 1933 GEC Magnet immersion heater
• 1935 Mysto boiling ring
• 1951 Belling Baby table-top cooker
• 1956 Hawkins Boilette

1915 Belling Boiler model 7 boiling ring UK Enfield Original Belling boiling ring and probably first to use Belling nichrome-on-fireclay element block. Model no. suggests seventh Belling product (first, 1912). Compact circular design, 7-inch diameter, no switch. Cast-iron trivet base, mottled grey vitreous enamel centre with cast iron slotted hotplate, bearing patent and design reg. details. Patent application 17319/15, design registration no. 658,747 (1916). Later, larger versions with cooker-type switches.
1927 Belling Turnbar model 614 heater/cooker UK Enfield Highly decorative room heater, converts to 'cooker' with flip-over nichrome-on-fireclay element block, rotates through 90 degrees to heat top grille. Produced 1927-c1939. Sky blue vitreous enamel (also in black and beige) on cast iron, brass fittings, switch and side conversion lever.
1931 Premier model 1156 UK Birmingham Bowl-style heater popular in 1920s-30s. Bowl used at angle for space heating, horizontal for utensil heating, with flat surface to protective grille. Bowl angle stops just past horizontal to avoid tipping. Figured copper bowl, cast base brown enamelled with veined copper finish. Price 12/3 1935 Army and Navy Stores, London. Registered design number 766,802. Click here to see bowl in up position.
1932 GEC Magnet model D5671 warming plate UK London Standard gec/Magnet 1930s warming plate. Produced c1932-c1948, placed by sleeker, modern design. Simple, elegant design and more compact than other examples. Solid thick gauge 'bright black' steel plate with two elements clamped directly underneath. Chromium-plated steel body with permanently fixed flex. Early versions have decorative steel/wood handles (two at either end), simple black phenol plastic from c1936/7. Tall, black vitreous enamel ceramic leg at each corner, doubling height. 100w, 200w and 300w versions and 3 sizes. Illustrated (twice) in Electric Cookery, Elizabeth Craig, EDA, 1937. Click here.
1932 Berkeley & Young Nippy model 1 table-top cooker UK Birmingham Compact and inexpensive 'breakfast cooker' in black stove-enamel folded steel.Descibed in 1938 Hobday catalogue as a 'cooker-griller, boiler-toaster, oven-radiator'. Single element block, nichrome coil on ceramic frame, serves as hotplate and grille. Fold-down front door bears dramatic gold transfer. Circular black-enamelled ceramic feet and door knob. No switch: two-pin connector in side using socket clearly from an electric iron (retains stand!). Registered design number 776,735 (1932).
c1933 GEC Magnet model D5350 UK London Early electric immersion heater, basically a portable insulated kettle element. Recommended for teapots, tumblers, cups, washing and shaving pots. Model D5350 300watts takes 7-8 minutes to heat half a pint, 500 watt model D5352 heats a pint in the same time. Prices 10/6 and 13/9 respectively in 1937. Listed in 1934 Dew electrical catalogue. Chromium plated nichrome element, black phenol plastic top with side hook and cotton-covered flex and light socket connector. Click here for packaging and flex.
c1935 Mysto model 321 boiling ring UK Simple, circular heating/boiling ring, no controls, two-pin connector, nichrome-on- ceramic element. Polished aluminium body, steel base with black phenol plastic feet. Later 1950s version also in green anodised aluminium finish.
1951 Belling Baby model 51 table-top cooker UK Enfield Third generation 'Baby', produced 1951-1959, replaced by Belling model 52. Tiny, down-sized cooker for use in any 13 amp plug socket., Primrose vitreous enamel on pressed steel, cast iron solid single hotplate, red/cream urea/phenol plastic knob/controls. Literature claims ability to prepare multi-course meals for a family! Some versions have a black enamel top. Known as the 'Wee Baby Belling'. Price in 1958, £8/12/-. Click here for 1957 Belling brochure entry. Click here to see the production line, c.1960.
1956 Hawkins Boilette UK Hastings Self-contained electric drinks heater, updated version of 1933 GEC concept. Manufactured by L G Hawkins of Hastings (model LGH255). Pyrex glass tumbler with heat-proof lemon-yellowplastic outer sleeve in contemporary styling. Chromium plated nichrome element, black phenol plastic top. Electric element and connector sits precariously and incongruously on top. Registered Design number 881736, late 1956. Click here for side view and here for top detail. Click here for separated elements. Click here for packaging graphics.