Automated Doughnuts
Krispy Kreme of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, had been making doughnuts since 1937. In the 1950s as the company expanded to a small chain of stores, it sought ways to ensure a consistent and profitable product. The firm created a dry doughnut mix and developed a machine that automated the doughnut-making process. The Ring King Junior formed, fried, turned, and cooled about sixty dozen doughnuts per hour, reducing labor costs.
Ring King machine, 1950
Gift of Krispy Kreme Doughnut Corporation
Scaled up production, about 1970
New generations of doughnut-making and -packaging equipment allowed Krispy Kreme to expand into retail sales at grocery stores and other outlets. These workers are boxing doughnuts just off the conveyor belt at a plant in Savannah, Georgia.
NMAH Archives Center AC0594-0000005a
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