# Strange thing in Rob and Laura's kitchen on the Dick Van Dyke Show **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 2, 2019, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-thing-in-rob-and-lauras-kitchen-on-the-dick-van-dyke-show/844262 "2019-12-02T04:21:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2019, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-thing-in-rob-and-lauras-kitchen-on-the-dick-van-dyke-show/844262/41 "2019-12-03T15:20:40Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > You don’t get out much, do you? It’s absurdly common, and has been for a very long time, for TV shows to portray a family living at a level that no real-world counterpart could possibly manage. I was going to say that you might want to think through the logic of that sentence, but I see **CookingWithGas** has beaten me to it. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2019, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-thing-in-rob-and-lauras-kitchen-on-the-dick-van-dyke-show/844262/42 "2019-12-03T15:59:14Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > You don’t get out much, do you? It’s absurdly common, and has been for a very long time, for TV shows to portray a family living at a level that no real-world counterpart could possibly manage. > [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I get out a lot. That’s what I do instead of watching TV. Ouch! ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2019, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-thing-in-rob-and-lauras-kitchen-on-the-dick-van-dyke-show/844262/43 "2019-12-03T16:36:08Z")
^ [For the burn.](https://www.solarcaine.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2019, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-thing-in-rob-and-lauras-kitchen-on-the-dick-van-dyke-show/844262/44 "2019-12-03T21:44:25Z")
Looks like something Randall Peltzer came up with. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-thing-in-rob-and-lauras-kitchen-on-the-dick-van-dyke-show/844262/45 "2019-12-04T00:40:24Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > If it was really the 2nd version that would be the only one known to **the mixer collecting group.** Maybe she has a photo at least. > > Dennis I just want to say that it makes me inexplicably happy to think that, among all the wondrous things in the world that I have never even dreamed of, there are people who collect kitchen mixers. ---
**Author:** ![Carlarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5e925/32.png) [@Carlarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carlarm)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-thing-in-rob-and-lauras-kitchen-on-the-dick-van-dyke-show/844262/46 "2019-12-04T01:42:07Z")
> [@ZonexandScout](#): > > My business partner bought a ca. 1965 house last year and the bar area has a built-in mixer in the counter surface. It’s a standard Oster (or some other) and is completely flush with the surface. You just remove the little cap and jam your mixer container on it to mix a drink. Our house had one of these as I was growing up in the sixties. At the time I thought this was how all mixers worked. If I remember correctly, it also had an orange juicer and meat grinder attachments. It permanently took up space on the counter (it was not totally flush), tended to collect crud when not in use and was not easy to clean. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-thing-in-rob-and-lauras-kitchen-on-the-dick-van-dyke-show/844262/47 "2019-12-04T01:46:38Z")
> [@Carlarm](#): > > Our house had one of these as I was growing up in the sixties. At the time I thought this was how all mixers worked. If I remember correctly, it also had an orange juicer and meat grinder attachments. It permanently took up space on the counter (it was not totally flush), tended to collect crud when not in use and was not easy to clean. We had one too, it was a Nutone like [this](https://www.popscreen.com/prod/MTgwNzIzNDQx/Nutone-Built-in-Food-Center-Model-221-with-Blender-and-Ice-Crusher-New-in-Box). ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-thing-in-rob-and-lauras-kitchen-on-the-dick-van-dyke-show/844262/48 "2019-12-04T04:42:37Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > We had one too, it was a Nutone like [this](https://www.popscreen.com/prod/MTgwNzIzNDQx/Nutone-Built-in-Food-Center-Model-221-with-Blender-and-Ice-Crusher-New-in-Box). That’s it! We had one of those. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-thing-in-rob-and-lauras-kitchen-on-the-dick-van-dyke-show/844262/49 "2019-12-04T06:06:23Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > If it was really the 2nd version that would be the only one known to the mixer collecting group. Maybe she has a photo at least. So I talked to my Ma. She said the thing was already there when they bought the house in 1966. So I was about 6 years old. She didn’t recall exactly which model it was but thought it had a mixer attached. She did remember that it never worked properly. The mixer had some kind of short in it and the rest of the apparatus leaked. Bad gaskets or something or other. After screwing around with it on & off for a couple of years my Dad decided it was unfixable and removed it, probably around 1969 when he set up a stereo system based behind the bar. So that was that. But it shows my memory of it was at least mostly accurate. And I was only about 9 when they got rid of it. ETA: Every picture my folks took in the 60’s and 70’s got turned into slides. There are a gazillion of them in my Mothers basement. I probably won’t go through them to see if any are a picture of behind the bar and of that sink. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-thing-in-rob-and-lauras-kitchen-on-the-dick-van-dyke-show/844262/50 "2019-12-04T17:03:00Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > I just want to say that it makes me inexplicably happy to think that, among all the wondrous things in the world that I have never even dreamed of, there are people who collect kitchen mixers. And that’s why Nancy, our forum founder, named it WACEM. We Actually Collect Electric Mixer.s Most mixer collectors are men, by the way. They are a cool, gadgety type of appliance. Early ones are more like machinery with exposed gears. And very difficult to piece together as you have the base, motor, beaters and various bowls and accessories which can all get separated over the years. Sunbeam had over a dozen accessories. Juicer, blender, pencil sharpener, knife sharpener, apple peeler, bean Frencher, pea sheller, meat grinder, sausage stuffer, rotary colander, veggie slicer, ice crusher and ice cream machine that I can think of right now. Some are worth hundreds by themselves. There are vintage mixers that have sold for over $2000. WACEM grew out of KOOKS - Kollectors Of Old Kitchen Stuff. Other appliances like fans and toasters have been collected for a long time. By the way, I have over 120 different mixers, one of the three largest collections existing. Dennis ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-thing-in-rob-and-lauras-kitchen-on-the-dick-van-dyke-show/844262/51 "2019-12-04T17:33:59Z")
I now understand your user name. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-thing-in-rob-and-lauras-kitchen-on-the-dick-van-dyke-show/844262.md?page=2)