Waffles

In 1911, General Electric introduced the electric waffle iron, a countertop dimpled metal device equipped with a plug-in heating element. The design mimicked the stove-top waffle iron patented by Cornelius Swarthout in 1869. In the South, the older design of the waffle iron prevailed until the 1930s. Every household of means had a waffle iron in its kitchen—two plates (round or rectangular) of cast iron, sometimes embossed with a design, sometimes simply indented, at the end of long handles with a hinge allowing one to open and close the plates. They were used for hearthside cooking over embers or the heat source of a cook stove. One greased the plates liberally with bacon grease, heated the plates, poured on a batter, closed the plates, and extended them over the coals. You flipped the iron once. After a modest period of time you removed the irons from the heat, popped them open, and anointed the crispy waffles with butter, cane syrup, sorghum, or your favorite preserves. In the mid-nineteenth century, such waffles were a sine qua non of breakfast at a boarding house or hospitable home—served with biscuits and corn bread in a kind of trinity. Certain cooks became famous for their waffles—Mrs. Schwarz, who ran a boarding house in Aiken, prepared waffles and bread so sumptuous they became the stuff of wonder in Charleston newspapers in 1830.