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West Bend Penguin Hot and Cold Server - Mid-Century
West Bend Penguin Hot and Cold Server - Mid-Century
West Bend Penguin Hot and Cold Server - Mid-Century
West Bend Penguin Hot and Cold Server - Mid-Century
West Bend Penguin Hot and Cold Server - Mid-Century
West Bend Penguin Hot and Cold Server - Mid-Century
West Bend Penguin Hot and Cold Server - Mid-Century
West Bend Penguin Hot and Cold Server - Mid-Century
West Bend Penguin Hot and Cold Server - Mid-Century
West Bend Penguin Hot and Cold Server - Mid-Century
West Bend Penguin Hot and Cold Server - Mid-Century
West Bend Penguin Hot and Cold Server - Mid-Century

West Bend Penguin Hot and Cold Server - Mid-Century

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This is my Mother's West Bend Penguin Hot and Cold Server
In 1941, Ralph N. Kircher drew up the plans for the West Bend Penguin Hot and Cold Server. Taking the form of a sphere with a flattened base, the vessel’s central decorative band depicts a colony of penguins, one waddling behind the other. The shiny and reflective surface of the server (available in chrome or copper-plated steel) creates a contrast between the cover’s knob and the vessel’s handles, the latter mimicking the curvature of a penguin’s flippers.

Produced in West Bend, Wisconsin, in the 1940s, the Penguin Hot and Cold Server is an iconic object of postwar American culture. Designed to insulate both hot and cold foods, and to keep ice cubes chilled, the Penguin highlights the resurgence in home entertainment after the war, including popular leisure activities like outdoor grilling and cocktail parties. It also offers a prime example of industrial design, changing technologies, the shifting role of women in the workforce, and the rise of a postwar consumer-driven society.