Tucked in a drawer in countless American homes is a tool almost nobody thinks about — until they pick it up again. It’s a simple wire or blade slicer for cheese, and right now, it’s having a moment.
A Tool Born From Frustration
The design traces back to 1925, when a Norwegian cabinetmaker named Thor Bjørklund got fed up trying to cut neat slices of cheese with a regular knife. Borrowing the principle of a carpenter’s plane, he built a slicer with a thin blade that pulled cheese into smooth, even ribbons instead of crumbled chunks. He patented the idea that February, and within two years his family’s company was mass-producing it.
That company is still making the same basic design today — more than 50 million units later, with roughly 200,000 produced every year. A century on, the core idea hasn’t changed: no batteries, no settings, just a blade and a handle doing exactly what they were built to do.
Why It Vanished — Then Came Back
For decades, single-purpose gadgets like this one fell out of favor as kitchens filled up with multi-tool gadgets, electric slicers, and food processors that promised to do everything at once.
But “do everything” tools often do nothing especially well — and they take up space, need charging, or break down in ways a simple wire slicer never will.
That’s part of why old-school kitchen tools are suddenly back in style. Trend trackers at Pinterest reported that searches for “dream thrift finds” jumped more than 550% in 2025, while “vintage fall aesthetic” searches rose over 1,000%. Industry analysts have also noted secondhand goods growing roughly three times faster than the broader retail market, as households look for ways to save money without sacrificing quality.
What We Know
The cheese plane/slicer design was invented in Norway in 1925 by Thor Bjørklund, inspired by a carpenter’s plane.
Commercial production began in 1927; the design has remained largely unchanged for a century.
More than 50 million units have been produced, with around 200,000 made annually today.
U.S. thrifting and vintage-kitchen searches surged sharply in 2025, with secondhand goods outpacing new-goods growth.
Why This Matters
For a lot of people, finding one of these slicers in a parent’s or grandparent’s kitchen drawer isn’t just about cheese. It’s a tangible link to a time when household tools were expected to last for decades, not get replaced every few years.
That’s resonating right now for practical reasons, too. With prices on everyday goods still squeezing household budgets, a tool that costs little, never needs a charger, and can outlive its owner looks less like nostalgia and more like common sense.
It’s a small reminder that sometimes the smartest kitchen upgrade isn’t the newest one — it’s the one your grandparents already figured out a hundred years ago.
