Every decade brings innovations that make life easier, cutting down the time and effort required to complete our daily chores and tasks. You won’t find any argument here for holding on to old tools in favor of newer, better-working — and often time-saving — household gadgets. However, in some cases, newer isn’t always better. On occasion, the tools used by our parents and grandparents get the job done just as well, if not better. Check out these popular household gadgets used by prior generations that are still perfectly useful in your home today.

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Cake Breaker

Why haphazardly cut into a perfectly baked and iced cake that took hours to complete, when you could instead reach for a cake breaker? These oversized, comblike tools were first patented in 1932 but remain useful today, helping to break light and delicate cakes (such as angel food cake) into slices, without smashing them or creating a crumbly mess.

Potato Ricer

The fluffiest mashed potatoes come not from a handheld masher or a mixer but from a potato ricer. This handheld tool that resembles an upsized garlic press forces boiled potatoes through fine grates to break apart lumps. The result is silky potatoes that aren’t gummy or over-mashed.

Crumb Brushes

Wiping away dinner crumbs with a kitchen towel is easy enough, but it usually requires a dustpan to catch the scraps or a vacuum to collect what’s fallen onto the floor. Crumb brushes (or sweepers) once solved this problem, gliding along tabletops to pick up tiny morsels much like larger floor sweepers, and holding onto them until they could be dumped in the garbage bin. 

Toast Rack

No one likes soggy toast, which is why toast racks have been around for so long. These table-topping stands promote air circulation, keeping toast perfectly crisp. You can still find them today in various styles that feel modern or are reminiscent of grandma’s house.

Carpet Beater

Vacuuming rugs helps to keep them in great shape, but it’s not always effective at freeing deeply embedded dirt particles. Enter the carpet beater, a tool many rug-owning households of the past used to shake out dirt from carpeted floor coverings easily. Carpet beaters began to fall out of fashion in the 1950s thanks to the popularity of vacuums, though using one today can help your rugs get their best cleaning yet.

Butter Mold

Before the days of store-bought butter, farmers and homemakers made their own supply of the dairy spread, sometimes shaping the blocks or stamping them with elaborate designs. Making your own butter gives you control over flavor and freshness — and you can take your churn up a notch with a decorative butter mold or stamp. 

_{Featured Image Credit: Andrej Rutar/ iStock}

Nicole Garner MeekerWriter

Nicole Garner Meeker is a freelance writer, research editor, and Optimism contributor. Based in St. Louis, she’s an enthusiastic gardener, fiber artist, and connoisseur of fine snacks.

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