At the time this study was initiated, the small electrical food mixer was a common appliance in the home, serving in many ways to facilitate and hasten the tasks of whipping, beating and mixing during food preparation. Then, as now, the homemaker with a small food mixer wanted to use it for all her mixing and beating operations. Advertising claims indicated that it was adequate for such purposes. Many mixers, however, would not perform all the tasks required. The beater speed was too fast; the bowl turned too rapidly or did not turn at all; portions of the food remained unmixed and had to be mixed by hand. The most serious fault was a failure of the motor to function at low speed with a heavy load, sometimes even with a medium load.