Columnist James Lileks could probably devote an entire web page to that image.

I used to house-sit for a friend of my parents when I was a teenager. He was a super-cool guy and his wife and daughter would take many trips to Bangor Maine. He was the top salesman for the appliance store I worked at and made bo-ku bucks. His modest home (now close to 2 million by Santa Clara standards) was a treasure trove of Custom Imperial  and anything else related to deluxe appliances. There was a Nutone Power Unit built into the kitchen counter and another one in the bar/pool table room. I had a lot of fun playing with them and thought they were so "Jetsons". 

The last home we bought in San Jose had a Ronson Foodmatic in the kitchen. I thought this was so much cooler than the Nutone. It even cooked and stirred food for you. The only thing I ever used it for was to make clam dip in the small mixer bowl. People thought it was a garbage shoot. Tucked away in a decorative trunk (in my bedroom!) is a complete Foodmatic with all the accessories including the food processor. I have a feeling it may stay there forever.

We had one in the kitchen in the house we moved into September 1961.  Our street was the Parade of Home for Houston that previous spring.  I can vaguely remember one or two other homes on the street had them.  I actually liked the little pink blender (editors note everyone knows I hate pink.)  We had the blender, knife sharpener, and meat grinder.  The blender was perfect for a family of 5 for OJ.  I cannot remember if it was my mom or dad that used the blender.  I think because it was something new to play with, my parents began to many times on Sunday nights have malts and maybe toast or cereal as we watched Bonanza.  My dad used the sharpener anytime he needed something sharpened.  It was so easy to set up.  I loved watching the sparks fly.  Mom used the meat grinder.  I think the only thing she used it for was to grind up left over cooked roast beef.  She was heavy-handed in forcing the meat through.  That eventually caused the thing to break.  Dad cherished the thing, it was built in next to his wet bar sink.  But he didn't replace he meat grinder (or maybe the gears were stripped out of the motor unit) as a way of getting back at my mom for her causing it to meet a short life span.  The unit stayed put until the 1970s sometime when dad removed it and filled in the hole with a nice piece of wood that ended up looking like a built-in cutting board.  I wished they'd gotten other attachments.  But we had a 1944-wedding present Sunbeam Mixmaster.  WE had a 1-speed pale yellow waring blender that was noisy as hell.  I don't ever remember the original glass vessel for the blender.  Must have been broken before I was about age 4 or 5 at the most.  In retaliation of the broken jar, my dad was able to rig up a round plastic container fused with the blender jar base and that's how we kept  being able to have a blender until we moved into the new house.