Daily Times

In the year this handy gadget was made, the queen’s grandfather George V was on the throne, Stanley Baldwin was Prime Minister and Margaret Thatcher was born.

Ninety years later, it is still going strong and helps Mary Waite and her husband Ivor with all kinds of household tasks.

The Piccolo multi-purpose appliance is so versatile that the couple use it not only to clean and polish, dust and shine but to make a cup of coffee afterwards and even prepare their dinner.

The appliance – seen as something of a ‘space-age’ device when it was made in 1925 – is a vacuum, a paint sprayer, a coffee grinder and a food processor, all rolled into one. To achieve the different functions, there are a range of attachments that all plug into one self-standing central motor, which is then connected to the mains. These also include a floor buffer, a metal grinder, a sander, a meat mincer, a carpet shampoo nozzle and a wire brush.

]The plastic and metal contraption was made by German company Hammelmann Werke – Hammelmann Works – and was once promoted as the future of household appliances.

And given this model’s longevity – it has never broken down – it is a perfect example of the legendary reliability of German manufacturing. When new it would have cost 20 guineas, or around £21, a considerable sum for the time.

But it seems the Piccolo was well worth the investment. Mary, 63, a grandmother and retired cleaner from Halesowen, West Midlands, said, “It has never once broken down and is the most reliable appliance I have ever used.”

This particular model, which is showing few signs of its age, had belonged to a salesman uncle of Mr Waite, who had kept it in storage while never using it. Mr Waite’s aunt finally handed it on to the couple as a wedding present in 1976.

Mary said, “It was almost brand new and still in its wrapper so obviously had not been used very much. We were absolutely delighted. It was quite a space-age thing to have in your house at that time and I remember our neighbours popped in just to have a look at it in action. On Christmas Eve I used the food processor to mix up the stuffing for the turkey and when family and friends left after Boxing Day I used it to hoover up the mess. It makes me laugh when I see all these flashy adverts on TV for Hoovers and kitchen appliances, which cost an arm and a leg. I will never give it up for anything modern. Modern appliances are just not as strong.”

Explaining how it works, she said, “The attachments all plug into one machine. I use some more than others – like the mincing machine, I use the most. If you take the bottom of the motor off and then the stand, you can clip the dust bag on and it becomes a vacuum.” Mary and her husband, 65, recently entered the Piccolo in a competition to find the oldest working appliance in the Black Country. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it won.