r/BuyItForLife • u/JoshOfArc • Feb 17 '26
Vintage Presto Poplite Hot Air Popcorn Popper
This is the best appliance I've ever had. It has lasted decades and will likely outlive me.
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u/larryzzzzz Feb 17 '26
I worked at Presto. The test lab was down the hall. There were multiple Presto Poplites running functional testing nonstop all day. Our side of the building smelled like a movie theater.
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u/garamond89 Feb 17 '26
Were you allowed to eat the test popcorn?
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u/larryzzzzz Feb 22 '26
There were large round bins that the test popcorn would feed into during testing. People would regularly grab a handful while walking through the lab.
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u/larryzzzzz Feb 22 '26
I worked in product development. There were endless engineering prototypes built and tested. Many were flops. One in particular was a home dog food maker. You put your leftovers into a machine that would grind up, mix, and and heat the leftover food scraps and then extrude the paste and cut into dog food pellets and dry them. It really smelled bad, like cooked garbage.
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u/larryzzzzz Feb 22 '26
One particular upside working at Presto, our department was next to the test kitchen. They would regularly test the pressure cookers, deep fryers, electric fry pans and skillets. We would be invited to sample pot roast, bacon and eggs, and all sorts of deep fried food and new recipes. They were really excellent cooks.
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u/swabbie Feb 17 '26
Warning... I did have to replace mine after 20 years. It still worked well, but the power cord was getting noticeable hot after use indicating it was breaking down. I did toy with replacing just the power cord, but figured there may be other electrical components in there nearing end-of-life.
I did replace it with another Presto though.
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u/Amp300 Feb 17 '26
I bought one about 20 years ago and found myself staring at it while making popcorn a few nights ago thinking, “Has this thing really lasted 20 years?”. Guess I’m in good company.
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u/MantisToboganPilotMD Feb 17 '26
i only stopped using mine because I became paranoid about plastic... i just use a pot now.
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u/fatcatpartytime Feb 17 '26
Have had two in my life, both died because of being dropped down the stairs. Truly perfect
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u/Toadliquor138 Feb 17 '26
I remember using one to pop old weed seeds
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u/stormblessed579 Feb 17 '26
And???? How did they taste?
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u/Toadliquor138 Feb 17 '26
Terrible lol and it didn't do anything. 😂
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Feb 17 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Toadliquor138 Feb 17 '26
I forget what led us to try it (it's a safe assumption to say we were high), and I don't remember there being any sort of smell.
And don't get me wrong, they don't pop into a piece of popcorn. They puff out enough to break the shell, and that's about it. I also remember it taking a lot longer than it did popcorn.
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u/elsiefr0ggy4898 Feb 17 '26
lmao that's hilarious 😂 definitely not the snack upgrade you were hoping for!
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u/tequilajinx Feb 17 '26
I still have mine that I bought in the 90s. It’s survived with regular use, even made popcorn with it tonight!
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u/KleinUnbottler Feb 18 '26
We accidentally melted the transparent top of ours of similar vintage, I think we accidentally ran it with no popcorn.
The new ones have a nice upgrade wher the transparent top and the piece it nestles into have a pair of hook-like extensions to wrap up the cord. This also keeps the top attached in storage.
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u/Xenoman5 Feb 18 '26
When my mom bought ours in the 80’s it had a metal butter holder and the butter melted sooo fast. The newer plastic ones aren’t as good and likely put microplastic into the butter.
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u/FinaLLancer Jun 04 '26
I've had two air poppers from this brand. One like this, and one in the "fountain popper" style, and neither lasted much more than 6 months.
Do they not make them the same anymore or what?
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u/Inquisitive-Sky Feb 17 '26
Mine from sometime in the 90s died last year but it wasn't its fault! The plastic topper broke when I dropped it while unpacking after a move.