Vintage. Thrifted. These are buzzwords on fashion and design blogs, and until recently, I wasn’t really feeling it. Vintage dresses, jewelry or furniture—they just didn’t feel like me. Two Saturdays ago, though, Sam and I found ourselves in a neighborhood estate sale, and that’s where I discovered a niche in the vintage scene I connect with: kitchen equipment.
One of the treasures we snatched up was an early model Cuisinart Food Processor.The first thing that grabbed our attention about the Cuisinart was the seven blades that came with it. (Did you catch that? Seven blades!) Nowadays the standard Cuisinart comes with three blades, though you can purchase additional blades for $40 apiece. With blades this costly, you might be wondering how much we paid. A mere $20.
I know what you’re thinking—did it work? Yep, it sure did. Figuring out how to turn the food processor on, though, proved a challenge: there was no on-off button. A quick Google search revealed that the earliest Cuisinarts are turned on by locking the lid into place. I plugged in the Cuisinart and slowly clicked the lid into place, all the while suppressing images of Cuisinart accidents due to user error. Whirr! The food processor worked. And there had been no accident. Clicking the lid into place might not be the safest on-off method, but the makers would address this in later models.
The Google search also shed some light on this particular model: it is definitely one of the earliest models (if not the first model) and was made in France by Robot-Coupe, a renowned kitchen appliance maker. Cuisinart eventually broke ties with Robot-Coupe and moved production to Asia. The quality of the French-made product is evident: after 30 years of use, it can still whip up a mean batch of roasted tomato salsa.
As the gentleman holding the sale handed us his Cuisinart, he paused and said, “Now, I want to tell you a story about this Cuisinart.” Here’s how it goes: he grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, and his mother used to watch this cooking show on Public Television with this chef named Julia Child. Toward the end of the show, Julia Child started using this new machine called a food processor. They didn’t carry food processors in Cleveland yet (and there was no Amazon.com back then), so the gentleman’s mother special-ordered two—one for herself and one for her son. And this is the Cuisinart that found itself into our hands, a tool well-loved and its purchase inspired by Julia Child. As the gentleman gave us his heirloom, I felt like we were on Antique Roadshow and had just been told our treasure was worth $1 million. But this wasn’t something we’d be selling; it was something we’d use in our kitchen, remembering its history. Not bad for a first vintage purchase.
Hello! My name is Andrea, and I’m a freelance writer living in the lovely, hilly city of San Francisco with my husband Sam.
7 Comments
OK, I admit, I am jealous. You guys found a real treasure. Impress me with those blades sometime.
Wow, I’ve never seen that model. My machine is just 3 or 4 years older, from 1977 or 78 and has an on button and an off/pulse button. I have all the blades and also one of the supposedly new and improved feed tubes they came out with later, but I like the original one best. You will probably get many good years out of your machine, mine is still running strong, although I cracked the bowl, probably trying to grate parm pieces that weren’t cut small enough. The machine came with a lifetime warranty and a few years ago, even though it’s not the same company, they honored it by sending me a new bowl. However, they made me relinquish the paper with the warranty written on it, lol.
Congratulations on a great find and buy. I enjoy reading your blog, I subscribe. Nan
I wanted to add that I looked at the bottom of my Cuisinart, it was made in Japan. Nan
And I meant to say, my machine is a 3-4 year NEWER version, not older. sorry about that.
Thanks so much for sharing about your Cuisinart, Nan! I could barely find any info on it online, so it’s interesting to know that yours has an on/off button and was made in Japan even though it’s just a few years newer (totally knew what you meant when you said “older,” ha ha!). Too bad you had to give up your warranty, but you’re right, that’s really nice that they still honored it and sent you a new bowl. And I’m so glad you enjoy reading my blog and subscribe! Happy Cooking!
Just wanted to let you know I also have one of these. Mine has been going strong for 35 years. I came across your post when I was looking for a new basket for mine. It’s so brittle with age I have to wash it by hand, just like a treasured antique (which it is). I don’t supposed you know where I could get a new basket do you? Mine doesn’t even have a model number it’s so old. It just says “made in France”. It was nice to see someone else who values their Cuisinart. It’s like an old friend to me. Thanks for the interesting read.
Hi Sharon, That’s so great your Cuisinart has lasted you so long! They certainly are worth the initial investment. Hmm, no I don’t know where to buy a new basket. Have you tried looking on Ebay? I know they sold some old Cuisinarts, so maybe they would have parts too.
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