Diamond, Mo., is home to the World’s Largest Small Appliance Museum
DIAMOND, MO. – In this age of smart phones, robot vacuums, refrigerators with TV screens and smart speakers that order groceries or answers questions, there is a place where visitors can travel back in time, a simpler time, a time when household devices not only were functional but creative and even beautiful.
The unique and even strange items belong to Richard Larrison. However, one may never assume that small appliances would become a fascination for a lifelong country boy who happens to own a western store.
When entering the door of J.R.’s Western Store, north of Diamond at the junction of Highway 59 and FF, visitors are confronted with the warm smells of leather saddles, boots and a myriad of items for the original cowboy or the wannabe.
Richard and his wife Janice are country through and through, but this one little thing, collecting very old small appliances, makes 82-year-old Richard’s eyes sparkle when he details the history of the many items that once took up counter space in homes across the nation and even the world.
It all started in about 1986 with an offer to hunt for old black fans for his California brother-in-law, Dennis. The kind that had no protective shield, weighed a few pounds and whirred like a plane engine.
“Dennis wanted me to find these old fans here in Missouri, and I ended up with about 100 or so,” Richard grins. “But then again, you see one black fan, you’ve seen them all.”
As the availability of old fans decreased and their price increased, what does a collector look for when on the hunt items that are becoming rare? Old electric toasters.
At first, Richard thought it was a silly notion since nearly everyone had a toaster, and after all, how different can a toaster get? But to his amazement, they could, and he would buy one here or there at junk stores or estate sales.
“But then I really made a mistake; I bought a book on old toasters, and lo and behold, they make porcelain toasters,” Richard said. “Holy Cow, I got to get me one of those.”
For Richard, the quest for forgotten household treasures was like traversing the last frontier. As newer, more modern items came on the market, making running a home easier, many old appliances were tossed out to rust and rot in dumps or become scrap.
As his quest for unusual toasters grew, so did the collection of oddities in the basement of their home. Coffee pots, waffle makers, and other appliances began to join the menagerie.
It wasn’t until some friends came over for a visit that the notion of sharing his collection with others took root.
“Every year, there used to be an art show held in Carthage where artists from across the nation came to display their artwork. One of them was Martha Jane Spurlock,” Richard said. “I invited her over to have coffee and see my appliance collection.”
That evening, a few of the artists came to the Larrison home to tour the basement treasures. One of the guests, Doug Prime, caught Richard by the arm to share his thoughts on the evening.
“Doug is a big man, and he does rustic type paintings, and I was surprised by what he had to say about my appliances,” Richard recalled. “He said, ‘I thought this was going to be a huge waste of time to see this junk, but man am I impressed and as nice a collection as you have got…it is a crime not to share it with everyone else.’”
So, in 2010, the collection moved to a new add-on at the existing western storefront.
The collection reveals a part of American history that testifies to the ingenuity and craftsmanship of American industry. Of the roughly 8,000 items in the museum, 99 percent were made in the United States. Sadly, many of those companies are no longer in business, and others have moved overseas.
Many of the rare appliances point to a time when there was a metal rationing because of war, for instance, glass irons in different colors. Others reveal the creativity of engineers in designing everyday items to catch the eye of that discerning housewife with bright colors, multiple uses, or just flashy chrome.
Items from the early 1900s to the early 1980s are painstakingly organized by type in the large building attached north of the western store. There are kitchen items, such as porcelain toasters, a hotdog electrocution cooker, fancy coffee pots, toasters for the car and unusual counter-top mixers. Then there are the household cleaning appliances, like the large tub washing machine with a foot pedal to wash and dry clothes.
Other items are more for personal care, like the 5-foot-tall hair perming machine, which resembles a strange octopus with cloth insulated wire and metal clips on the ends. And next to that is an even stranger contraption for steaming men’s faces before a shave.
“I am certain that 90 percent of the appliances I have from the past would not pass safety tests by today’s standards,” Richard said. “But I can guarantee folks were a lot more careful back in the day, or you might lose an eye or something.”
The museum, which operates only on donations, is open by appointment or just ask to see the collection when shopping at J.R.’s Western Wear. Richard or one of his daughters love to take visitors back in time and show some unique and unusual small appliances that will surprise guests or give them a chuckle.
