August 24 is National Waffle Day. You can thank Cornelius Swartwout for inventing the modern version of the Waffle Iron. On August 24, 1869, he obtained Patent number 94,043 for “improvement in Waffle-Irons.” His design is similar to those we use today although there were no electric ones. Troy was also famous then for making cast iron stoves. Cornelius was a brakeman on the Rensselaer & Saratoga Railroad and boarded at 39 Hoosick (gone).

Waffle irons were used way back in the 14th century, but the Dutch (he was Dutch) and earlier.. They usually had a wooden handle and the cook stood in an open hearth flipping back and forth trying not to burn the waffles or their hands. They were heavy, and the cook or wooden handles usually did get burned. It was tough to know if the waffles were not being burned to a crisp.

So Swartwout “improved” the waffle iron. His could sit on a wood stove with a handle that could open, close, and turn the iron without getting burned. He assigned the patent to himself, Joseph Foxell, Thomas Jones and Edward W. Millard, all of Troy.

His description:

“The nature of my invention consists in providing a........

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