The Original Slow Cooker Was Born in Chicago

Irving Naxon invented the Crock-Pot, originally called the Naxon Beanery, in the 1930s. He got the idea from his Orthodox Jewish mother who tossed ingredients in a pot to cook cholent overnight for Shabbat. Cooking on Shabbat was forbidden, but this method allowed her to still serve a hot meal. The Crock-Pot was sold at big Chicago department stores like Sears and Montgomery Ward, and it was marketed as an efficient and inexpensive way to make dinner, especially for working mothers. We talk to Irving Naxon’s daughter, Lenore, who has become the unofficial historian of the Crock-Pot.

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