Cornelius Swartwout

Be proud of your heritage! Eat waffles! The first patent for a Waffle maker was issued to Cornelius Swartwout on August 24th 1869! You would remove one of the stove lids and replace it with the ring. Then heat up the waffle iron on the coal stove - and later the gas range - pour the batter on the griddle, close the cover and after a few minutes, flip the griddle in its little groove, and cook the other side of the waffle.

I was contacted by a researcher for Food TV in early 2005 about Cornelius and his patent for the Waffle Iron. I wasn't able to provide a picture of Cornelius, but Frank Swartwout provided these pictures of his waffle iron. With a bit of manipulation, they showed the pictures below on the show "The Secret Life of . . . Waffles" which aired in March the Food Channel.

Despite my request to credit the Swartwout Family, the credit was shown as you can see on the left.

Frank is the authority on the Waffle Irons. So far he has research has shown three different sizes and three varieties. These pictures are from the collections of Frank Swartwout and Katie Swartwout.

The last two varieties do not include the Swartwout name.

FOXELL, JONES & MILLARD, TROY, N. Y. -- waffle irons marked C. SWARTWOUT PATENT 1869

DOXELL, JONES & MILLIARD, Troy, NY -- waffle irons (C. Swartwout Pat'd Aug.24, 1869)

Patent number is between 93944 and 94169

Frank will be providing more detail for me later on.

Famous Swarthouts

For more Swarthout, Swartwout, Swartout and Swartwoods, visit the Links page.

If you have a .pdf reader, click on the above image to get the full copy.
Patent provided by Sean D. Burdick, a patent attorney who likes old patents.