Veg-O-Matic II
date: label: date made
content: 1975
name: label: maker
content: Popeil Brothers, Incorporated
notes: label: Description
content: In the 1950s and ‘60s, as home cooks looked for timesaving shortcuts, the popularity of task-specific kitchen gadgets soared. One of the most successful was the Veg-O-Matic, invented by Samuel J. Popeil around 1963. While offering a quick and easy way to cut vegetables into various shapes, the Veg-O-Matic is perhaps best known for ushering in a new era of direct marketing. Popeil’s son, Ron, founded Ronco Inventions and began aggressively selling their products via dramatic demonstrations on late-night television.
label: Description
content: While its name suggests a technologically advanced machine, the Veg-O-Matic is manually operated and made of plastic. Cooks push fruits or vegetables through a steel cutting blade that can be changed to produce various sizes of sliced and cubed pieces. Popeil tirelessly demonstrated the device on television while touting its timesaving potential, ease of use, and versatility. The Veg-O-Matic was one of the first products to feature the red and white “As Seen on TV” logo. Popeil’s commercials became famous for the shouted slogan “It slices! It dices!” a tag line that has become a widely used reference in American popular culture.
label: Description
content: This Veg-O-Matic was donated by Samuel Popeil’s daughter Lisa in 1985, shortly after her father’s death. It dates from about 1963 and originally sold for $7.77.
place: label: place made
content: United States: Illinois, Chicago
label: place owned; place used
content: United States: Illinois, Chicago
topic: label: Subject
content: Food Processing
label: Subject
content: Household Tools and Equipment
label: Subject
content: Kitchen utensils
label: Subject
content: Patented
label: Subject
content: Plastics
label: Subject
content: Business
label: Subject
content: Invention
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Domestic Life
label: See more items in
content: FOOD: Transforming the American Table 1950-2000
label: Exhibition
content: Food: Transforming the American Table
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: The Popeil Family in memory of Samuel J. Popeil
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1986.0222.1A
label: accession number
content: 1986.0222
label: catalog number
content: 1986.222.1A
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Cutter, Food
label: Object Name
content: cutter, food
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: plastic (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: aluminum (cutting rings material)
label: Physical Description
content: steel (cutting blades material)