Industrial beginnings

The products as we know them today are descendants of the Model H, an industrial electric stand mixer designed by the Hobart Manufacturing Company in 1908. Cooks used the machine, which held 80 quarts, in commercial bakeries and naval battleships because it made it easier to cook in mass quantities. 

A smaller version for at-home bakers, the Model H-5, arrived in 1919.

More electricity, more appliances

The stand mixer for home bakers arrived during an era that historians have called the second industrial revolution. During this period, which began in the 1920s, more middle-class American homes added electricity. Hobart's stand mixer also got smaller.

A makeover with lasting impact

In the 1930s, KitchenAid brought in industrial designer Egmont Arens to shake up the stand mixer's look. That redesign set the stage for what the tilt-head mixers would look like for decades to come.

More colors

KitchenAid began to make its stand mixer available in multiple colors in the 1950s.

Bowl-lift models

There are two options available when you buy a KitchenAid stand mixer -- the tilt-head model in which the part that houses the motor lifts, and the bowl-lift model (pictured here) in which you lower the mixing bowl and the motor is stationary.

A bit of blue

Here's an older version of the bowl-lift model in blue.