When Leanne Vallett recalls the happy days of her childhood, she thinks of New Year's Eve.

Every year, Wallit's mother puts out an impressive 70s-style appetizer.

"My mom was never a big cook," recalls Wallett, "but when she cooked, it was spectacular." The centerpiece of these meals was a miniature crock pot called a "Crockette," which made

The food was kept hot from dinner until midnight.

The recipes get more varied year by year, sometimes sweet meatballs mixed with pineapple, sometimes cocktail-flavored weiners mixed with cherry pie, but all tap into the nostalgia for Wallit.

An avid home cook since she was a child, Wallett is a food writer for local and regional groceries in her hometown of Delaware in her spare time.

These memories took on new meaning when Wallett's mother died in 2008.

The alligator coat sat in storage for a few years, but eventually found its way back to the kitchen.

Today, she uses the little pot to serve hot artichoke dip at football games, keeping her mother's memory alive. Nearly 80 years after the patent was issued, the pot continues to occupy a warm place in American kitchens and hearts.

For Paula Johnson, curator of works at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., the jar's ubiquity adds to its allure.

When Johnson returns to family dinners in her Minnesota hometown, she can count on seeing a long line of buffet-sized pots and pans.

“The idea of ??being able to produce something quickly without making a lot of mess, whether it’s prep or cleanup, is a time-honored tradition,” Johnson said.

Erwin Nachumson's "Cooking Device," patented on January 23, 1940. (U.S. Patent 2,187,888) The story of the Crock Pot begins in the 19th century in Vilna, a Jewish ghetto in the city of Vilnius, Lithuania. Vilna was once known as

The "Jerusalem of the North," which has attracted many writers and scholars, is where Jewish families celebrate the Sabbath by preparing a stew of meat, beans, and vegetables before dusk on Friday.

Crock pots are brought to their town's bakeries, especially those that are still hot in the oven, which slowly cools down overnight and by morning the low, slow residual heat causes a stew known as cholera.

Long before he invented the modern slow cooker, Irving Nachumson learned the tradition from a relative. Nachumson was born in New Jersey in 1902, where he was joined by an older brother, Meyer.

Gained a sister, Sadie. His mother, Mary, immigrated to the United States from Russia, leaving Jersey City for Fargo, North Dakota, after her husband's death, eventually crossing the border into Winnipe, Manitoba, to help Mai.

Yay avoided being drafted into the Army during World War I. Irving Nachumson studied electrical engineering through correspondence courses from an early age, and later returned to the United States, specifically to Chicago, where he worked as the first Jewish engineer for the Western Electric Company, Duck Cholent.

Deb Lindsey for the Washington Post/Getty Images) When he wasn't working, Nachumsohn explored his passion for invention and even passed the patent bar exam himself to avoid hiring a lawyer. Over time, Nachumsohn was able to start his own business.

company, Naxon Utilities Corp., where he devoted his days to honing inventions. Nachumsohn's inventions, such as his electric frying pan and his early version of the modern lava lamp, found traction in stores and homes.

The foundation was laid for the electronic news scrolls that lit up major cities, providing passers-by with headlines and stock moves (the most famous of which was the Times Square "zipper.") According to Nachumson's daughter Leigh.

Noel said her father's wide range of inventions are a testament to his curiosity and dedication to problem solving. In their home, the slow cooker was a way to deal with the summer heat, allowing the family to cook without pooping in the oven.

Roast. Nachumsohn applied for a patent on May 21, 1936, and it was approved on January 23, 1940. Nachumsohn's slow cooker went on the market more than a decade later, although the reasons for the delay were unclear at the time.

It seemed unlikely that the slow cooker would catapult Nachumson to fame, although it did highlight another major development in his family's life—a new name. In 1945, World War II put an unforgivable spotlight on it.

The German name was used on an American, prompting Nachumson to shorten his family name to Nachsen.

This explains why Nachumsohn's first slow cooker was called the Naxon Beanery, a low pot with a lid and a heating element surrounding the inner chamber to facilitate cooking.