A bronze vessel almost identical to a modern
kettle in shape, with a decorated spout, is known from Mesopotamia
in 3500 to 2000 BC. It was, however, probably used for filtering
rather than for boiling water.
Early kettles would have been made of iron and by the 19th century
copper was a common material. Such kettles were heated directly
over a fire or stove. The copper version required frequent
cleaning as it tarnished each time it was used. The first electric
kettle was developed in Chicago in 1891, by the Carpenter Electric
Company of the United States. It took twelve minutes to heat the
water because the element was in a separate compartment, and not
immersed in the water as it is in modern kettles.
In 1922 The Swan company created a kettle which had
the element sealed in a metal tube and placed directly in the water
chamber unlike the slow boiling electric jugs previously produced. This
faster design caught on and soon most companies were making kettles in
this design. Kettles were mainly made from metal with bakelite handles and
lids gaining popularity during the 1930s, during the second world war
several ceramic designs that featured bakelite lids were produced due to
the shortage of metal products. these stayed popular for many years and in
1956 Russell Hobbs produced the first fully automatic kettle bring the
kettle into the modern age.
Today it would be hard to find an new electric kettle
that was not automatic and the trend of plastic type kettles is fast being
replaced by retro style chrome designs
