Taco Research Department: 1980’s Mass Market Taco Making Kit From Minnesota

Images and text Via The National Museum of American History.

Nordic Ware, a family-owned manufacturing firm in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was founded in 1946 by brothers Dave and Mark Dalquist, as “Plastics for Industry.” In 1950, the brothers bought Northland Aluminum Products, a small firm with a line of “Nordic Ware” products including griddles and steak platters. The same year, Dave Dalquist created a cast aluminum, fluted cake pan and trademarked it as the “Bundt” pan. The company continued to grow its product line to include specialty baking and cookware items, including the microwave turntable.

Nordic Ware is notable due to its history of product innovation through engineering, and its continued production of cookware in the United States. Sadly, it does not appear that Nordic Ware currently offers any taco-related cooking equipment. Keep reading for historical images and descriptions of the product, which we believe was the first mass market taco related cookware kit produced in the United States. If anyone has examples of earlier, complete taco kits, please drop us a line.

This Mexican Kitchen Cookware Set was manufactured by Nordic Ware in 1982. The set consists of three items: an aluminum tortilla press with a sun design, a taco maker including a wire basket to shape the tacos, and a cup shell former that holds down and shapes tortillas as they fry. This Mexican cookware set was part of Nordic Ware’s “International Specialties” line, developed to meet expanding customer interest in cuisines from different cultures. The cookware came with a set of recipes.