Chase Brass & Copper logo. Image from a 1934 advertisement.

“It’s eaiser. . . it’s cleaner. . . it’s more fun. . . to cook at the table with Chase electrics!”  –               Chase Promotional Brochure, early 1930s.

The arbiter of good taste and mores, Emily Post said this:

     The present enthusiasm for every variety of buffet party would seem to be at least one happy result of the depression, which in shortening the purses of all of us, has brought appreciation of the simpler hospitalities. But whatever the cause, it is certainly true that among the nicest parties possible to give, the buffet luncheon, dinner or supper is far and away the most popular and smart.

October 1, 1933 Chase Advertisement from Vogue Magazine featuring Emily Post and the Electric Buffet Server. Image from proquest.com.

The Chase, Brass and Copper Company response to the changes the Great Depression brought to home entertaining was to introduce a series of products for informal dinner parties.

Electric Buffet Server

The Chase Electric Buffet Server. From the author’s collection.

       The Chase Electric Buffet Server, designed for Chase by Lurelle Guild, is an electrically heated dish that it possible to keep four kinds of food hot on the buffet table without over cooking. Late guests do not worry the hostess because food stays hot and attractive for hours if necessary. For hot buffet supers and lunches, for late Sunday breakfasts, and late evening entertaining, the server is invaluable. Up to twenty people can be served from it. In the summer the server can be filled with cracked ice for salads, cold soups and desserts, etc. – 1935 Chase Catalog.

U.S. patent drawing for the Chase Electric Buffet Server. Image from Google Patents.

Chase Electric Buffet Server. Photo from blackrockgalleries.com.

Introduced in the fall of 1933, it stayed in production until 1940. And selling at $40.00 in 1934 ($815.00 today) it was expensive. For consumers just emerging from the worst of the depression the high price must have been daunting. So sales of the Electric Buffet Server were probably not that great. In an effort to boost sales Chase reduced the price to $30.00 ($580.00 today) in 1935. It is also a very large item, measuring 18 inches long, 11 inches wide and 5 inches high. So finding a place to store it in a 1930s home or apartment would be a challenge. Because of this the Electric Buffet Server is not an easy piece to find on the collectors market today.

The Electric Buffet Server is basically a modern version of a chafing dish. The base is filled with water then heated. But instead of using fire it heated the water by electricity, just as the name says, and maintained a constant temperature of about 170 degrees Fahrenheit. Filling the base with ice to chill salads and soups provided a summertime option. Four removable porcelain casserole dishes held the food in the chrome stand.

Chase Electric Buffet Server, leg and handle detail. Photo from blackrockgalleries.com.

Guild’s design with its black composition handles and lid finials contrasted against the shining chrome, the fluting on the legs and along the top edge and the octagonal design of the base, porcelain dishes and lids was very handsome. But Chase knew it needed a less expensive alternative.

Chase advertisement from the April 1, 1934 issue of Vogue, featuring the Chase Electric Buffet Server. Image from proquest.com.

Electric Snack Server

Chase Electric Server, early version with only one heat setting and walnut handles and finials. From the collection of the author.

And the Chase Electric Snack Server, introduced in 1934 proved to be that alternative. Smaller and at $19.50 ($398.00 today) less than half the price of the Electric Buffet Server. Chase further reduced the price to $12.50 ($250.00 today) in 1935. Just like the larger Buffet Server, the Snack Server worked the same way by heating water to about 170 degrees to keep food warm. Or keeping food cool in the summer by filling the base with cracked ice.

U.S. Patent drawing for the Chase Electric Snack Server. Image from Google Patents.

The Electric Snack Server is an electrically heated dish with three food compartments, or casseroles. It is designed for serving warm luncheons for small families or parties where four to eight people are to be served. The golf foursome, for instance, can return home after a late game and find a hot supper waiting for them. Bridge parties can continue at cards without the interruption for the preparation of “something to eat.” The Electric Snack Server is 13 inches in diameter and 6 inches high.  –  1935 Chase Catalog

Chase advertisement from the November 15, 1935 issue of Vogue Magazine, featuring the Electric Snack Server. Image from proquest.com

Judging by how relatively easy it is to find this piece today, it must have sold well back in the 1930s. Howard Reichenbach’s very stylish design for the Snack Server featured bands of ribbing along the top and bottom of the base section. The three “step down” lids covered the one quart, Pyrex food containers.

In production from 1934 – 1942, the 1935 catalog states it being only available in polished chromium with black fittings, but soon polished copper servers and servers with walnut fittings were on the store shelves.

Detail of the original electrical setting of the Chase Electric Snack Server. Photo from the collection of the author.

Originally the Snack Server came with only one heat setting, but starting in 1938 the “high / low” setting replaced the original. Also that year white plastic handles and lid finials became another option.

Chase Electric Snack Server, 1938 – 1942, featuring white handles, finials and lids. Photo from the collection of the author.

Later model Chase Electric Snack Server, detail of the high and low setting, “step-down” lid and white plastic finials. Photo from the collection of the author.

Table Butler

Chase Table Butler, 1938 – 1942. Photo from the collection of the author.

The Chase Table Butler is another piece that is not too easy to find on the collector’s market today. Chase introduced it in late 1938 and kept in production until the war effort brought an end to the speciality line in 1942. The Table Butler is another strikingly moderne piece, with its ribbed banding at the top of the lower section and concentric rings on the top of the lid. White plastic trim is set off nicely against the chrome.

Pyrex bowl detail of the Chase Table Butler.

Food placed in a Pyrex Bowl inside the Table Butler is kept warm, electrically, to one hundred and eighty degrees. Retailing at $10.95 ($212.00 today) it was even less expensive than the Electric Snack Server.

The Chase Table Butler is for use on the table to keep many kinds of food piping hot during long meals and buffet parties, or between cooking and serving time. It has a heat-resisting glass baking dish in which such food as creamed chicken, creamed vegetables, lobster Newburg, scrambled eggs, lamb stew, macaroni and cheese, soups and chowders, cereals, and many other dishes can be kept piping hot. Without the glass dish, the Table Butler is used to heat rolls and muffins, to keep toast hot, to crisp potato chips and crackers, and to keep hot such foods as sausages, hambugers, croquettes, and French fried potatoes. – 1942 Chase Catalog.

Chase Table Butler lid, bowl and original power cord detail. Photo from the collection of the author.

Table Chef

Here is another Chase Table Electric introduced in 1938 and discontinued in 1942. With its gleaming chrome body, ribbing along the base and scrolled, white plastic handles it matches stylistically to the Chase Table Butler and the Fairfax Tray. Designed by Walter Von Nessen this piece served a number of cooking functions. Originally the Table Chef retailed for $14.95 ($290.00 today).

The Chase Table Chef, designed by Walter Von Nessen. Photo from the collection of the author.

The Chase “Table Chef” Chafing Dish is a modern electric marvel. With it, nearly all forms of simple cooking can be done right at the table. It can be used as a chafing dish, or as a double boiler, by filling the lower container with water, and by using the upper container for the food to be cooked. A double heating element gives the choice for high or low heat – the “high” for cooking and the “low” for keeping foods piping hot. The Table Chef is invaluable for use in informal entertaining, but even more so for the small family which has one maid or one, and for the small apartment. And for party use – after a bridge game, or a small super after the movies, or summer meals on the porch.  – 1942 Chase Catalog.

That the catalog description mentions that this is an item for a small family with “one maid” is telling. It’s obvious, even without knowing the prices, that Chase marketing was aiming for middle class or higher customers.

Chase Table Chef, lid detail. Photo from the collection of the author.

Electric Buffet Warming Oven

1937 Chase Electric Buffet Oven in chrome with walnut trim. Photo from ebay.com.

Here is another Chase Table Electric to help the hostess have a successful party in the years leading up to the Second World War. A Charles Arcularius design the Buffet Warming Oven had a production life of five years from 1937 – 1942. Available only in Chrome with walnut handles and feet for the first year. Starting in 1938 ovens in copper with walnut or white plastic trim and a chrome and white plastic version became options.

Chase Electric Buffet Oven in copper with walnut trim. Photo from worthpoint.com.

The Electric Buffet Warming Oven is a smart little oven to keep food hot at the table. And what hostess hasn’t longed for a portable warming oven in which such foods as hot canapes, toast, rolls, sausages, potato chips, or anything else that needs to be kept crisp, could be kept hot and appetizing through a long party, or family meal?

The electric heat in the oven is a dry heat that keeps food crispy. On the other hand it won’t dry out such foods as toast or croquettes because it is such an even heat and the tightly fitted cover prevents the loss of moisture by evaporation.

Now the hostess doesn’t have to keep an anxious eye on the kitchen oven, dashing back and forth from the dining room for reinforcements. She can relax and enjoy the party or her family, knowing that the buffet warming oven is taking over the responsibility for keeping food hot. – 1942 Chase Catalog.

Chase Electric Buffet Oven, inside detail. Photo from ebay.com.

At $10.00 ($194.00 today) the Electric Buffet Oven was the least expensive of the Chase Table Electrics. Even so $10.00 was still above the price range for the average household just emerging from the depression.

Chase Electric Buffet Oven in chrome with white plastic handles and feet. Photo from picclick.com.

Because of the relatively high prices for the Chase Table Electrics, these pieces are not that easy to find today on the collector’s market. But they are out there and with some patience and hunting they can be tracked down. And they make a nice moderne addition to any Deco style kitchen or dining room *.

* If you are buying these for use make sure the power cord and plug are in good condition and are not fraying or frayed. Also check to make sure there are no splits in the metal before you pour in water or ice. The buffet server and snack server are prone to stress cracks.

Anthony & Chirs (The Freakin’ Tiquen Guys)

SOURCES

The Complete Chase – Donald-Brian Johnson & Leslie Piña

The Chase Era 1933 and 1942 Catalogs of the Chase Brass & Copper Co. – Donald-Brian Johnson & Leslie Piña

Chase Catalogs 1934 and 1935 Catalogs – Donald-Brian Johnson & Leslie Piña

Art Deco Chrome Book 2: A Collector’s Guide Industrial Design in the Chase Era – Richard J. Kilbride