Soft Electronics - A museum of electronic plastic for the kitchen, bathroom and home. Examples of innovative design for consumer electronics from the 1960s to 1990s.

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Philips has always been big in consumer electronics. Based in the Netherlands they made many small appliances of all types and sizes, from the 1960s to the 1990s. They made everything! Mainly placed in the top price range, the overall quality of products was very good to excellent. Many products have original designs and can be recognized easily.

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Rowenta is another big player in the German market. The core products are hot irons. But also in other categories they made top-quality devices. Great coffee makers, grills and toasters. They were also very good with hair dryers and hair styling sets. They also invested a lot of time in developing dental cleaners and brushes.

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Krups started with kitchen scales and coffee grinders. In the 1970s they offered a wide range of small kitchen appliances like mixers, scales and coffee machines. But also bodycare products like hair dryers and dental cleaners. Quality and design of all products was above average and sometimes very innovative. Products often show similarities to Braun products.

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Siemens is another large German company with several great products in all the standard categories. From coffee makers and mills, toasters, hot irons and hair dryers. Together with the products released under the Bosch brand, they were responsible for the best designed products in the 70s and 80s.

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Moulinex was a popular brand and present in most households in the 1970s. They were very succesful in making small appliances avaliable in a lower price range. In 1961 they introduced the slogan "Moulinex libère la femme" (Moulinex, liberator of women). Most products were well built and well designed, sometimes with futuristic styling.

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AEG is one of the companies in the German market that has always had some products in all major categories. From coffee machines to toasters, flatirons and hair dryers. Later they were also busy trying to get a spot in the dental cleaner market share.

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Braun is famous for their timeless design and strong brand. For all the other companies they were the reference, and many of the household and bodycare products are true icons even now. The level of innovation and product variation was very high from the 1960s all up to the 1990s, especially with hair dryers, shavers and dental cleaners.

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Melitta is known for everything you need to make a good cup of coffee, like coffee makers, grinders and coffee filters. But in the 1970s and 1980s they also made a couple of other machines like a deep fryer and a air cleaner range. And around 1980 they even launched a product line-up specially made for the Japanese market, including a food processor.

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SHG was a smaller company from Munich in West Germany. Often claimed as products from East Germany. SHG produced a couple of product line ups in the mid and late 70s and continued until the late 90s. Most of these products were priced lower than comparable products but the design is pretty good and product quality is great.

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National is the brand of Panasonic for small household appliances in Japan and Asia. They made many great and innovative products since the early 1960s. Often smaller battery powered kitchen tools, but also larger appliances like egg boilers, yoghurt makers and several nice hair dryers.

Welcome to Soft Electronics

This online museum has 2010 examples of small household appliances from the 1960s to 1990s.

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